Mbabane – Government has paid more than E500 million to suppliers, offering some relief to businesses that have faced prolonged delays in receiving payment for goods and services already delivered.
According to reports by the Eswatini Observer, the payment was made after the government received higher-than-usual tax collections in June, together with part of the latest E2.9 billion revenue from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).
Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg confirmed the payment, saying the funds were combined to settle part of the government’s outstanding debts to suppliers.
“Between the month-end tax collections and SACU revenue, we paid suppliers over E500 million. We received more tax than in other months in June, and by combining those funds with SACU revenue, we managed to pay suppliers more than half a billion emalangeni,” Rijkenberg said.
FESBC Hhohho committee member Boyson Mamba confirmed that some suppliers had received payments.
“We were paid, and are very grateful to the government for the little we received,” Mamba said.
He said the payments would help businesses meet some of their immediate financial obligations after months of waiting.
However, Mamba said many suppliers were still owed significant amounts and expressed hope that government would continue paying outstanding invoices as more revenue became available.
The latest payment comes amid growing concerns from businesses over delays in government payments.
Reports by the Federation of Eswatini Business Community (FESBC) previously indicated that some businesses had gone for more than six months without receiving payment for goods and services supplied to the government.
The organisation warned that delayed payments were affecting business cash flow and placing pressure on the survival of some enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized businesses.
Many suppliers have said late payments make it difficult for businesses to pay workers, settle debts and continue providing services.
The financial year that ended in March also closed with several suppliers still awaiting payment.
Business leaders have said that carrying unpaid invoices into a new financial year creates uncertainty and makes financial planning difficult.
Rijkenberg said the government had first allocated about E850 million from the SACU revenue towards the payment of the recently processed 85 per cent backpay arising from the civil servants’ salary review.
The backpay, which started being paid on Monday, benefited approximately 40 000 civil servants across the country.
After setting aside funds for the salary review backpay, the remaining SACU revenue was combined with the June tax collections to pay suppliers.
The Minister had earlier indicated that the government’s priority for the month was paying the civil servants’ salary review backpay.
At the time, he said only a limited number of suppliers would receive payments because most of the available funds had been set aside for the backpay.
Meanwhile, some civil servants have raised concerns over tax deductions applied to their salary review payments.
Although the backpay was welcomed after weeks of waiting, some employees expressed disappointment over the amount deducted from the payments.
Some civil servants said the deductions had significantly reduced the amount they expected to receive, while others acknowledged that taxes were unavoidable but felt the deductions had placed additional financial pressure on them.
The government has not indicated when the next round of supplier payments will be made.
The latest payment is expected to provide some relief to affected businesses, although many suppliers remain awaiting settlement of outstanding invoices.
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