Govt digging more pits to throw away money

Madam,

,t is a fact that government needs money to be able to meet its social obligations to the public. $t the bare minimum, government has to provide basic infrastructure such as roads, schools and hospitals, as well as make provisions for reg ulating trade and business to ensure social and eco nomic main te nance. ,t is no secret, therefore, that government needs money to provide for its people and to make the economy tick.

9olatility of government revenue, as we have seen with the 6$&8 revenue, which our government is dependent on, is a major constraint in managing the economy. ,t increases the diffi culty of realistic and effective fiscal management and sustainability, most critically in planning, budgeting and budget implementation.

,f a government wants to gain auton omy and take pride in taking care of its people as well as its developmental path, a large chuck of the government revenue streams has to be generated internally and the reality is that gov ernments all over the world depend on ta[ as a major source of revenue. $s Eswatini progresses towards

achieving it or not, e[treme dependency on ta[ revenue to fund government e[ penditure just won¶t cut it anymore. *overnment needs to engage itself in new ways of generating income in order to stop punishing and burdening the current ta[ base, that is, the peo ple who religiously wake up every morning and go to work to provide for themselves and their families. The eco nomic base is the foun dation of all sorts of revenues for government. $ high income level and diverse eco nomic base stands a better chance of providing for the needs of its citi]ens as well as better protect itself against economic shocks.

We are becoming a victim of our own ta[ system which is now crip pling the economy. *overnment can diversify revenue streams as much as it wants, but if it does not spend the money on taking care of the people, the economy and reducing poverty in the kingdom, it will simply be digging more pits to throw away our hard earned money.

Thabiso