Mbabane – In what is a major financial relief for government, Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg announced that the country will be receiving E13.06 billion as SACU receipts in the 2024/2025 financial year.
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union among five countries including Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Its headquarters are in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. Founded in 1910, SACU is the oldest existing customs union in the world.
The E13.06 billion windfall reflects an 11.15 percent increase compared to the ending 2022/2023 financial year receipts of E11.75 billion. Rijkenberg explained that of the E13.06 billion, E1.8 billion was surplus revenue collections emanating from the 2022/2023 financial year while E11.26 billion was based on the projected Common Revenue Pool for 2024/2025 which had grown by 6.6 percent from the previous financial year level.
Meanwhile, the country’s imports from SACU during the year under review increased by 25.24 percent compared to the previous year.
The minister said government encouraged Emaswati to declare all goods to customs when they enter at the various ports of entry.
“The money shared based on what is imported from SACU countries and this is an indication of the economic growth of the country,” he said.
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