The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini

                                                                                                                              

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

 

RE: MEASURES TO BE TAKEN FOLLOWING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION

A National  of Emergency was declared in Eswatini on the 17’th of March 2020. This was necessitated due to the rapid spread of the Corona Virus (Covid 19) across the globe. The primary crisis is one of Health due to the infection rate of this deadly virus and measures have been declared to try to curb the spread of the virus. The secondary crisis that Eswatini is facing, is an economical one. As the world economy slows down, stock exchanges crash, trade flows are curtailed and movement in countries is stopped, there is a need for Eswatini to put some measures in place to try and assist individuals and businesses that will be suffering the consequences of the economic crisis.

The following measures will be put in place:

  • Fuel prices will come down during the first week of April, however the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy is yet to finalize the calculations and will make the necessary announcement as usual.
  • The Central Bank has reduced the discount rate with 100 basis points that will reduce the cost of debt with 1%.
  • The Central Bank has reduced the liquidity requirement for the banks from 25% to 20% giving the banks more liquidity.
  • The Banks have announced that those individuals and companies that need short term financial support or relief can approach them and each application will be assessed on a risk based approach.
  • Provisional tax payments: Taxpayers projecting losses will file loss provisional returns, hence no payment will be required. The due date has been postponed by 3 months, which means June declarations and payments are due in September and December declarations due in March 2021.
  • Extension of returns filling deadlines by 3 months before penalties kick-in, otherwise normal filling is welcome.

October   -  SMEs without VAT                              -  pushed to January 2021

             November – Individuals                                         - pushed to February 2021

             December – LTP and VAT registered                  - pushed to March 2021

  • Payment arrangements: Taxpayers facing cash flow problems should provide evidence to be considered for payment arrangements. This only applies to current dues for Income Tax.
  • For old debts, SRA will waive of penalties and interest if principal is cleared by the end of September 2020. This applies to all debts (excluding Customs debt). This will assist taxpayers clear their old debts and accumulated interest and penalties and start on a clean slate for their businesses to enhance recovery.
  • A portion of the Capital budget  this year will be redirected towards urgently refurbishing hospitals and completing wings of new hospitals

        

The following are recommendations:

-The negotiations between the Public Sector Unions and the Government negotiating  team be settled as soon as possible for Civil Servants to be able to benefit from the budget allocation for COLA.

 - That the use of cash is reduced by the public moving over to electronic means of payments and transactions as soon as possible.

 -That the public do not fear a “shortage of cash”. The banking sector has enough   liquidity.

 More measures might be added in time depending on the level of the crisis. 

We plead with all Emaswati to unify against this virus and we encourage communities and households to support each other during this dark hour. This is not a time for political agendas, vendettas, propaganda or selfish ambitions but a time that our country can demonstrate Eswatini’s true strength of unity, peace and stability. 

NEAL RIJKENBERG

MINISTER OF FINANCE

23 March 2020

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