[Swaziland] Poverty on the increase, says govt

from Reuters Alert Net

Releasing Swaziland's budget this week in parliament, Finance Minister Majozi Sithole revealed that two-thirds of the population earned less than a dollar a day.

"The extent of poverty in the country, especially in the rural areas, cannot be overemphasised. This has seriously affected people's ability to access basic necessities such as health care and education", Sithole said.

About 800,000 Swazis out of 1.2 million - or 69 percent of the population, survive on about US $21 a month, less than 70 US cents a day, enough only to buy a loaf of bread, according to Sithole.

Describing education as the "catalyst" to break the poverty cycles, Sithole underlined the need to provide free universal primary education for all children within three years. However, the education's slice of the $1 billion budget is down to 20 percent from last year's 26.4 percent.

A huge chunk of the budget - about $450 million - will be spent on salaries, prompting Sithole's annual complaint about the bloated and unaffordable ranks of public servants, a matter of concern also to the International Monetary Fund.

Much smaller proportions have been allocated to address the various humanitarian crises in the country - $4.8 million for drought relief; $7.6 million for the welfare of Swaziland's 70,000 AIDS orphans; and $4.7 million for the rollout of antiretroviral drugs in a country with the world's highest HIV prevalence rate - with 42.6 percent of adults HIV positive.

Despite increasing incidence of desertification, water pollution and population pressure on the small country's natural environment, only about $244,000 has been set aside for the Swaziland Environmental Authority.

In contrast, the country's army saw its allocation rise from last year's $43.8 million to $58.7 million. The police will receive $5 million, up from $3.7 million last year. Sithole complained that last year, the police overspent their budget by $12.5 million.

With a sizeable chunk of treasury's money going to the nation's security forces, poverty eradication efforts will largely be funded by $16 million in grants from international donors.