Government-by-Government Assessments: Eswatini
During the review period, the government published its enacted budget within a reasonable period. However, the executive budget proposal and the end-of-year report were not publicly available within a reasonable period. Information on debt obligations, excluding major state-owned enterprise debt, was publicly available online. While budget documents provided a general picture of government revenues and expenditures including for state-owned enterprises, expenditures for royal emoluments were not broken down. The budget broke down expenditures by ministry.
Information in the budget was considered generally reliable. Budget execution reasonably aligned to budget projections. The military budget was subject to civilian public oversight. The government’s supreme audit institution published an audit report within a reasonable period, but it the institution lacked independence that met international standards and its audits did not cover the entire annual executed budget. The government outlined in law or regulation the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction licenses and contracts, but the opacity of the procedures cast doubt on whether the government followed the law in practice. Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was not always publicly available. It is not clear whether sovereign wealth funds had sound legal frameworks, and they did not disclose sources of funding or general approaches to withdrawals. Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was not always publicly available. It is not clear whether sovereign wealth funds had sound legal frameworks, and they did not disclose sources of funding or general approaches to withdrawals.
Eswatini’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- Publishing the executive budget proposal and end-of-year report online within a reasonable period;
- Publishing debt information of major state-owned enterprises;
- Breaking down expenditures to support executive offices in the budget;
- Ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence and its reports cover the entire annual executed budget;
- Consistently making basic information on natural resource extraction awards publicly available;
- Following natural resource extraction laws and regulations in practice; and
- Ensuring sovereign wealth funds have a sound legal framework and disclose their sources of funding and general approach to withdrawals.