The Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) has a target to collect $425 million for the 2016/17 budget, which, when added to the $281.3million from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) pool, will give the country a total budget of $706 million. This amount will form part of the 2016/17 budget which is expected to be slightly over last financial year’s $937.5million.

SRA acknowledges that it will be a challenge to meet whatever targets will be set for next financial year as it is rather difficult to forecast the impact of the current drought situation, further projecting a decline of SACU revenue.

SACU comprises Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa.

In the past financial year, revenue and grants accounted for $912.5million and of this amount, external grants amounted to $16.8 million, a reduction from the previous year as one of the European Union’s grants for agricultural developments dropped.

Source: StarAfrica