Mbabane: Shocking revelation!
It has emerged that government owes international medical suppliers over E400 million worth of medical drugs. This was revealed by Eswatini Nurses Association President, Bheki Mamba during an interview with Independent News.
The association’s president mentioned that it was left to be seen how the government would pay out such a staggering amount of money considering that the country has reported a crippling economic crisis which began shortly before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in December last year.
Independent News can also reliably reveal that the country has been making orders of essential drugs which were delivered but without making any payment, which is the result of the allocation of a small budget to the health sector. Over the years the health sector has been allocated a budget of between 7 and 8 percent, which is far below the demands of the ministry.
Communications Officer in the ministry of finance, Setsabile Dlamini mentioned that the health sector has only paid part of the money to the suppliers. She stated that the payment has been sourced from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which was initiated by minister of finance Neal Rijkenberg in July. The communications officer promised to get back to this reporter with the amount that has been paid out to the medical suppliers, so far, to medical suppliers, most of which originate from outside the continent, but at the time of publication she had not.
In July, the IMF Executive Board approved US$110.4 million (E1 billion 780 million 900 thousand) in emergency support to the Kingdom to address the Covid–19 pandemic, what money will also be used to pay out the country’s outstanding debts, according to the ministry of finance communications officer. Against this backdrop, the country’s national debt from 2014 to 2024 stands at E3.27 billion, according to Statista, a German company specializing in market and consumer data.
Royal Commission
Meanwhile, in the midst of all the debts accumulated by the country, a decision to procure vehicles for the ministers has been finalized with the Royal Commission beginning to look into the how the purchasing of the cars will be done. The commission is led by Eswatini Sugar Association (ESA) CEO Phil Mnisi while top lawyer Sidumo Mdladla is its secretary.
The possible purchasing of the vehicles will be based on recommendations contained in Finance Circular No.2 of 2013. Cabinet ministers in the 2013-2018 term of office had their official vehicles benchmarked at E800 000 each yet with the current administration, the commission had recommended the value of their vehicles to be at a maximum cost of E950 000, which was E150 000 extra.
According to Finance Circular No.2 of 2013, the presiding officers and ministers would be allocated sports utility vehicles (SUVs) upon taking office.
Marshal Plan
Worth noting is that Eswatini has sworn to formulate a 30 billion emalangeni ($1.73 billion) “Marshall Plan” to shore up an economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
According the finance minister, Neal Rijkenberg, the plan aims to garner investment in 97 projects in seven industries, ranging from textiles to agriculture, and create more than 39,000 jobs. About three-quarters of the money will come from private investors and the balance from the government, which will fund its share from its existing budget and loans from international institutions.
The minister stated that the plan envisions private companies being the key driver of economic growth and a diminished role for the government, which will focus on making it easier and cheaper to do business. A review of state companies will be undertaken with a view to selling some and shutting others.
In the same briefing the Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini said government is opening itself up and invited people to come and set up in the country. “We want to lower our corporate tax rate, to use that as a competitive advantage,” said the premier, adding that currently corporate tax stands at about 27.5 percent while government wants it to drop to as low as 12.5 percent.
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