The country’s Premier, Russell Dlamini says the heavy reliance on the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts poses a threat to the country’s sovereignty.
The PM disclosed this yesterday during the inaugural business-to-government engagement hosted by Business Eswatini (BE) at Emafini Lodge. The event was attended by various Ministers and captains of industry.
Topics discussed encompassed food security, renewable energy initiatives, opportunities in the mining sector, and ways of attracting investors, such as the possibility of reducing taxes for businesses and assisting small businesses, and reliance on SACU receipts, among a plethora of pertinent issues affecting the country.
“We, as a country must do everything we can to ensure that we protect our sovereignty, and as it stands we cannot fully say that our sovereignty is protected as we rely heavily on SACU receipts. We should not be proud as a country that we depend on SACU, the country should be able to fully finance its budget, without any reliance on SACU.”
He further disclosed that the government is working on a plan to not only reduce but remove the reliance on SACU.
“We are working on a radical plan to replace SACU, not only reduce the reliance but replace it. We have already charged the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Eswatini to work on a plan to ensure that we are on a trajectory to replace SACU receipts. We are also extending an invitation to emaSwati who believe that they have ideas on how they can assist the country to grow to come forward”
The Premier concluded by stating that he believes that once the national budget runs on zero funding from SACU then the country will start experiencing double-digit economic growth, as well as increased SACU receipts.