Gov
THE GOVERNMENT
OF
THE KINGDOM OF ESWATINI
[pic]
ANNUAL PUBLIC DEBT MANAGEMENT STATISTICAL BULLETIN
FOR
2018/2019
June 2020
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 8
List of Abreviations 9
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 10
CHAPTER ONE 12
LEGAL AND OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK 12
a) Economy 12
b) Fiscal Balance 12
c) Total Public Debt 13
d) Debt service 14
e) Cost and Risk Characteristics of the existing Debt Portfolio 16
f) Arrears 18
CHAPTER TWO 19
DOMESTIC DEBT 19
a) Total Domestic Debt 19
b) Domestic Debt by Instrument 20
c) Domestic Debt by Holder 21
d) Treasury Bills and Bonds by Holder 23
e) Treasury Bills by Holder 24
f) Outstanding Treasury Bonds 25
g) Treasury Bonds Maturity Profile 26
h) Treasury Bills and Bonds by Tenor 26
i) Infrastructure Bond (IFB) Program 27
j) Average Interest Rates on Treasury Bills 27
k) Interest Payments on Domestic Debt 28
CHAPTER THREE 30
I. EXTERNAL DEBT 30
a) Total Central Government External Debt 30
b) Structure of Central Government External Debt 30
c) External Debt Disbursements 31
CHAPTER FOUR 33
I. FISCAL COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES 33
a) Recognizing Potential Fiscal Risks 33
CHAPTER FIVE 34
I. PUBLIC DEBT STRATEGY AND DEBT SUSTAINABILITY 34
a) Public Debt Strategy 34
b) DEBT SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS 37
c) Sensitivity analysis 40
CHAPTER SIX 42
I. OUTLOOK FOR THE MEDIUM TERM 42
a) Public Debt Stock in the Medium Term 42
b) Debt Service in the Medium Term 42
GLOSSARY 44
List of Tables
Table 1: Eswatini Financing Fiscal Balance (SZL Million) 12
Table 2: Total Debt Stock (SZL Million) 13
Table 3: Eswatini Total Public Debt Service 15
Table 4: Cost and Risk Indicators for existing debt as at end 2017/18 18
Table 5: Outstanding Domestic Debt (SZL Million) 19
Table 6: Domestic Debt by Holder 22
Table 7: Outstanding Stock of Treasury Bills and Bonds by Holders 23
Table 8: Outstanding Stock of Treasury Bills by Holder 24
Table 9: Primary Market Auction Performance of Infrastructure Bonds 26
Table 10: Interest Payments on Domestic Debt 28
Table 11: External Debt by Creditor Type (SZL Million) 29
Table 12: External Loans Disbursements (SZL '000) 31
Table 13: Cost and Risk Indicators under Alternative Strategies 35
Table 14: Projected Public Debt Stock 41
Table 15: Projected Debt Service 42
List of Figures
Figure 1: Eswatini Public Debt Stock (SZL Millions) 14
Figure 2: Eswatini Domestic and External Debt Service (SZL Million) 16
Figure 3: Redemption Profile of Existing Debt (SZL Million) 17
Figure 4: Stock of Domestic Debt 20
Figure 5: Domestic Debt by Instrument 21
Figure 6: Domestic Debt by Holder 22
Figure 7: Outstanding Stock of Treasury Bills and Bonds by Holders 23
Figure 8: Outstanding Treasury Bonds 25
Figure 9: Maturity Profile 25
Figure 10: Outstanding Government Securities by Tenor 26
Figure 11: Treasury Bills Interest Rates 27
Figure 12: Central Government External Debt by Creditor Type (SZL Million) 29
Figure 13: Central Government External debt by Creditor Category 30
Figure 14: Evolution of public debt and gross financing need indicators 37
Figure 15: Evolution of external debt and gross financing needs indicators 38
Figure 16: Macro Fiscal Stress Tests 39
List of Boxes
Box 1: FY 2018/2019 MEDIUM TERM DEBT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY (MTDS) 34
FOREWORD
The legal framework for Public Debt Management is contained in the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act (2017) which stipulates that the Ministry will report on the country’s debt to Parliament on an annual basis. In general, this framework entrenches and promotes prudent and sound debt management practices for both the cCentral and lLocal gGovernments with the aim to enhance efficiency, transparency and accountability on debt issues. However, this report covers developments within the cCentral gGovernment.
The country’s economy remains somewhat weak compared to other SACU countries due to fiscal challenges since 2016. The debt situation has been maintained at relatively low levels, but the medium term outlook indicates that debt is growing at a faster rate, hence the need to keep it sustainable. A large proportion of the efforts have focused on developing domestic markets for Ggovernment securities as a way of reducing the economy’s vulnerability to potential exogenous shocks as opposed to over-reliance on external funding.
This aAnnual Ppublic dDebt Mmanagement Rreport highlights the public debt developments during the Ffiscal Yyear 2018/19 including total public debt portfolio, composition and structure of the debt as well as debt service obligations, which is a first report for the country in this format. The rReport provides a broad view of the costs and risk characteristics of the country’s public debt and debt related transactions.
In nominal terms, debt levels have been increasing with the debt ratio at 24 percent of GDP as at end of March 2019 and was still within the acceptable limit of 35 percent. The major currency composition of debt comprises of the United States Dollar (USD), Euro, Japanese Yen, Sterling Pounds (GBP) and South African Rand. The country’s external debt has remained long-term but due to the country’s re-classification into lower middle-income country, it has affected the average time to maturity. As at end of March 2019, the average maturity, grace period and average interest rate on new external loan commitments were 14.8 years, 5 years and 3 percent, respectively.
This report marks the Government’s commitment to provide accurate debt information to the public through its various publications. This publication of the Aannual Ppublic Ddebt Mmanagement Rreport is in accordance with the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act (2017) which underscores the relevance of the report to the wider public audience. The Government will continue to implement reforms and restructure in the Public Debt Management Department (PDMD), which is expected to adopt the three separate offices (Ffront, Mmiddle and Bback oOffice) in line with international best practice. Other reforms in the financial markets are being implemented in collaboration with other key stakeholders.
With these few remarks, I would like to present the reportcongratulate the PDMD for achieving this remarkable feat..
HON. NEAL H. RIJKENBERG
MINISTER OF FINANCE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The key role of Public Debt Management Department is to ensure that public debt is managed in a prudent manner and remains sustainable over the medium term. The country's debt stood at E15.8 billion as at end of March 2019 composed of both domestic and external debt at 13.3 percent and 10.7 percent of GDP, respectively. Over the last financial year, major capital projects have been funded through both external and domestic financing which has seen total debt rise in nominal terms. Domestic debt as a percentage of total debt stood at 55.4 percent while external debt was at 44.6 percent. The main focus for gGovernment is to invest heavily on capital projects, which is expected to create an enabling environment for the private sector to operate and at the same time, improve the welfare of the country’s populace.
The legal and institutional arrangement for public debt management continues to be strengthened. The scope and coverage of this report reflects the Ministry’s commitment to both transparency in reporting and accountability in the management of public debt. This marks the first effort by the Ministry to provide information on public debt to the public at large. In addition to the Aannual Ppublic Ddebt mManagement Rreport, further information on public debt will be made available in a number of official publications hosted on the Government website: .sz.
I wish to recognize the efforts that have been made by the Directorate of Public Debt Management Department, the Treasury Department, the Budget and Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Planning & Development and the Central Bank of Eswatini in the compilation of this report. The core team includes: Armstrong Dlamini, Lomagugu Ntshakala, Lihle Dlamini and Gugu Mamba all from Debt Office, Busisiwe Ruth Nxumalo and Nonhlanhla Simelane from the Treasury Department, Nkosinathi Mavimbela and Sandile Phakathi from the Directoriate of Budget and Economic Affairs, Thokozani Sibiya and Lindelo Ngwenya from the Ministry of Economic Planning & Development, and Linda Hlophe, Sandile Ngomane, Andreas Dlamini and Nomvuyo Hlophe from Central Bank of Eswatini.
I take this opportunity to invite you to read this report and we hope that it will provide valuable information that will enhance your understanding of public debt management in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
SIZAKELE P. DLAMINI
PRINCIPAL SECRETARY
List of Abreviations
|ADF |African Development Fund |
|AfDB |African Development Bank |
|ATM |Average Time to Maturity |
|CBS |Central Bank of Swaziland |
|FCCL |Fiscal Commitments and Contingent Liabilities |
|FY |Financial year |
|GDP |Gross Domestic Product |
|GoE |Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini |
|IDA |International Development Association |
|IFB |Infrastructure Bond |
|IMF |International Monetary Fund |
|MTBS |Medium Term Budget Statement |
|MTDS |Medium Term Debt Management Strategy |
|NBFI |Non-Bank Financial Institution |
|PDMD |Public Debt Management Department |
|PFMA |Public Finance Management Act |
|PPP |Public Private Partnership |
|PV |Present Value |
|SZL |Emalangeni |
|TEDS |Total External Debt Service |
|UK |United Kingdom |
|USA |United States of America |
|USD |United States Dollar |
| | |
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Contraction of Eswatini’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was experienced between 2018 and 2019. In real terms, the GDP only grew by 1.3 percent in 2019 compared to 2.4 percent in 2018. The economy experienced multiple adverse shocks arising from El Nino induced drought, fiscal challenges and a slowdown in the global economic trends.
As at end March 2019, the outstanding total public and publicly guaranteed stood at SZL15.8 billion compared to SZL11.4 billion at end March 2018, an increase of 38.9 percent. Domestic and external debt accounted for 55.4 per cent and 44.6 percent of total public debt as at end of March 2019, respectively. In nominal terms and as a percent of GDP, total public debt stood at 24 per cent, while domestic debt accounted for 13.3 per cent with external debt accounting for 10.7 per cent as end of March 2019.
The total public debt service payments as at end March 2019 amounted to SZL1.2 billion. External and domestic debt service totalled SZL606.6 million and SZL574.1 million, respectively for the year ending March 2018. As a component of the total public debt service, external and domestic debt service was 51.4 percent and 48.6 percent by March 2019 compared to 52 percent and 48 percent respectively as at end March 2018. The ratio of debt service to revenues increased to 7.6 percent by end March 2019 from 6.3 percent by end March 2018.
The composition of domestic debt in terms of the stock of Ttreasury bBills was 25 percent and government bonds was 59 percent of total domestic debt, respectively as at end March 2019. Non-bank (nNon-residents and non-bank Ffinancial Iinstitutions including insurance companies, and pensions funds) were the largest holders of the total public domestic debt (SZL4.5 billion – 42.8 per cent) followed by the share held by Central Bank at SZL3 billion – 28.1 percent. And the remainder was held by the commercial banks, Iindividuals & Oother investors (individuals and saving schemes) was SZL3 billion as at end March 2019.
Total public external debt rose marginally during the last financial year due to large investment in infrastructure projects from SZL5.3 billion in March 2018 to SZL7.1 billion as at end March 2019. External financing sources has continued to be dominated by multilateral, bilateral and commercial creditors. There has been a steady growth on commercial investors as more funding is becoming more accessible from these sources though and at a market prices
The major currency composition of debt are of the United States Dollar (USD), Euro, Japanese Yen, Sterling Pounds (GBP) and South African Rand (ZAR). The other currencies account for an insignificant proportion of the debt portfolio. The country’s external debt has remained long-term but due to the country’s re-classification into lower middle income country, it has affected the average time to maturity. As at end of March 2019, the average maturity, grace period and average interest rate on new external loan commitments were 14.8 years, 5 years and 3 percent, respectively
Eswatini’s public debt remainsed within sustainable levels over the medium term and well within the 35 per cent limit of GDP in nominal terms in line with PFM Act (2017) and the recommendation of the Bretton wWoods institutions :i.e. the IMF and the World Bank Group.
CHAPTER ONE
LEGAL AND OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK
Economy
Contraction of Eswatini’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was experienced between 2018 and 2019. In real terms, the GDP only grew by 1.3 percent in 2019 compared to 2.4 percent in 2018. The economy recovered from the 2015/16 drought mainly through the primary sector (which was supported by above-average rains emanating from the drought), which anchored overall growth in 2018. The 2019 growth figures portrayed the economy normalising from multiple shocks arising from the fiscal crisis, expansion of Eswatini exports line through the global market, which was counteracted by the global economic slowdown.
Annual average inflation stood at 2.6 percent in 2019. The month on month inflation rate stood at 0.3 percent in March 2020 from 0.7 percent in February 2020. Whilst, Tthe overall balance of payments position improved to record a deficit of US$ 8.3 million (0.2 percent of GDP) in the year to December 2019 from a deficit of US$ 52.6 million (1.2 percent of GDP) in the year to December 2018. The current account recorded a surplus of US$ 172.1 million in the year to December 2019 from a surplus of US$ 38.7 million in the year to December 2018.
Fiscal Balance
The overall fiscal balance for 2018/19 registered a deficit of SZL 3.9 Billion (6.2 percent of GDP) and was financed through net external borrowing of SZL 766.1 million (1.6 percent of GDP), net domestic financing of SZL 3,422.0 million (7.0 percent of GDP) (Table 1).
Table 1: Eswatini Financing Fiscal Balance (SZL Million)
|Financing item |2017/18 |2018/19 |
| |SZL million |As % |SZL million |As % |
| | |of GDP | |of GDP |
|Net Foreign Financing |657.0 |1.3 |766.1 |1.6 |
|Net Domestic financing |2,962.0 |6.1 |3,422.0 |7.0 |
|Total |3,619.0 | |4,188.1 | |
Source: Ministry of Finance.
Total Public Debt
As at end of March 2019, outstanding total public debt stood at SZL15.8 billion as illustrated in (tTable 2) compared to SZL11.4 billion at the end of March 2018. This shows a 38.9 percent year-on-year growth. Domestic debt increased from SZL 6.1 billion at the end of March 2018 to SZL 8.8 billion recorded at the end of March 2019, showing a growth of 44.7 percent.
On the other hand, external debt increased by 32.3 percent from SZL 5.3 billion at the end of March 2018 to SZL7.1 billion at the end of March 2019.
Table 2: Total Debt Stock (SZL Million)
|Debt Type |Mar-15 |Mar-16 |Mar-17 |Mar-18 |Mar-19 |
|DOMESTIC DEBT | | | | | |
|Central Bank |2.6 |3.1 |3.1 |3.3 |1,296.3 |
|Commercial Banks |1,580.2 |1,580.2 |2,352.9 |2,430.9 |2,636.7 |
|Non-bank financial Insti |1,061.7 |1,419.5 |2,197.7 |3,315.0 |4,507.7 |
|Other |405.7 |237.6 |236.9 |310.7 |327.1 |
|Total domestic debt |3,050.2 |3,240.3 |4,790.5 |6,059.9 |8,767.8 |
|as a % of GDP |5.7 |5.7 |8.0 |9.6 |13.3 |
|as a % of Total debt |40.8 |39.7 |47.9 |53.2 |55.4 |
|EXTERNAL DEBT | | | | | |
|Multilateral |2,722.7 |2,976.3 |3,271.4 |3,157.1 |3,938.2 |
|Bilateral |981.5 |955.7 |966.2 |960.4 |1,113.1 |
|Private Creditors |722.8 |987.3 |978.5 |1,218.8 |2,006.7 |
|Total external debt |4,427.1 |4,919.4 |5,216.1 |5,336.3 |7,058.0 |
|as a % of GDP |8.3 |8.6 |8.7 |8.4 |10.7 |
|as a % of Total debt |59.2 |60.3 |52.1 |46.8 |44.6 |
|GRAND TOTAL |7,477.3 |8,159.7 |10,006.6 |11,396.2 |15,825.8 |
|Total debt as a % of GDP |14.1 |14.3 |16.7 |18.0 |24.0 |
|Memorandum items | | | | | |
|GDP in Millions (SZL) |53,103.1 |57,193.6 |60,082.6 |63,338.5 |65,820.0 |
Source: Ministry of Finance, Central Statistics and Central Bank of Eswatini.
In nominal terms and as a percent of GDP, total public debt was 24 percent as at the end of March 2019 compared to 18 percent as at the end of March 2018 (Table 2 and Fig. 1). Domestic debt was at 13.3 percent compared to 9.6 percent, while external debt stood at 10.7 percent and 8.4 percent of GDP as at the end of 2019 and 2018 respectively.
Figure 1: Eswatini Public Debt Stock (SZL Millions)
[pic] Source: Ministry of Finance, Central Statistics and Central Bank of Eswatini.
Debt service
The total public debt service payment as at the end of March 2019 amounted to SZL 1.2 billion. Debt service increased by SZL147.7 million (or 14.3 percent) from SZL 1 billion recorded at the end of March 2018. The increase was largely attributed to the depreciation of the local currency against major foreign currencies and disbursing loans.
External and Domestic debt service was SZL 606.6 million and SZL 574.1 million, respectively as at the end of March 2019. As a percentage of the total public debt service, external and domestic debt service was 51.4 percent and 48.6 percent by March 2019 compared to 52 percent and 48 percent, respectively as at the end of March 2018.
The ratio of debt service to revenues increased to 7.6 percent at the end of March 2019 from 6.3 percent at the end of March 2018 (Table 3 and Figure 2)
Table 3: Eswatini Total Public Debt Service
|Eswatini Total Public Debt Service (Million SZL) |
|Debt Type |Mar-15 |Mar-16 |Mar-17 |Mar-18 |Mar-19 |
|External Debt Service | | | | | |
|External Principal |187.1 |297.7 |437.6 |394.3 |410.4 |
|External Interest |131.7 |146.3 |140.0 |142.7 |196.2 |
|Total External Debt Service (TEDS) |318.7 |444.0 |577.6 |537.0 |606.6 |
|TEDS as a % of Total debt service (TDS) |62.3 |67.5 |61.7 |52.0 |51.4 |
| | | | | | |
|Domestic Debt Service | | | | | |
|Domestic interest |193.2 |213.6 |358.0 |495.8 |574.1 |
|Domestic interest as a % of TDS |37.7 |32.5 |38.3 |48.0 |48.6 |
|Total Debt Service (TDS) |512.0 |657.6 |935.5 |1,032.9 |1,180.6 |
|Total Debt Service as a % of Total Revenue |3.62 |4.61 |6.76 |6.34 |7.64 |
|Total External Debt Service as a % of Exports and Services|1.49 |1.94 |2.32 |2.11 |2.32 |
|Memorandum items | | | | | |
|Total Revenue |14,140.7 |14,265.9 |13,834.4 |16,300.5 |15,462.3 |
|Export earnings (goods and services) |21,371.9 |22,930.6 |24,937.5 |25,411.8 |26,163.2 |
Source: Ministry of Finance, Central Statistics and Central Bank of Eswatini
Figure 2: Eswatini Domestic and External Debt Service (SZL Million)
[pic]Source: Ministry of Finance.
Cost and Risk Characteristics of the existing Debt Portfolio
1. The cost and risks of the debt portfolio as at end of March 2019 were evaluated using a few key parameters. The cost of debt was mainly evaluated by considering interest payments to GDP, whereas the risks considered are mainly the market risks, that is, refinancing risk, and exchange and interest rate risks.
2. Cost of Debt: The cost of domestic debt portfolio in terms of interest payment as a percentage of GDP was 1.1 percent compared to 0.2 percent for external debt with a weighted average interest rate of 8.5 percent compared to 3.2 percent for external debt. The reason being that the current status is due to has existing concessionary loans from the borrowers which have longer period to pay and attracts lower interest rate charges. The domestic debts is on the high as most of the borrowing is assumed not to be spread in the market to reach the long term investors who will lower the debt service in the medium to long term.
3. Refinancing Risk: The average time to maturity (ATM) of the overall debt portfolio was 4.4 years. The ATM for external debt is 8.1 years while for domestic 2.2 years. The longer ATM for external debt is mainly due to some concessional loans whose maturity is about 40 years and grace period of 10 years on average. In addition, we havthere aree loans from South Africa which does not have an impact on the exchange rate since the local currency at parity with the South African rand on 1:1 basis. The ATM for domestic debt of 2.2 years is shorter compared to external debt due to dominance of Ttreasury bills.
4. The total domestic debt maturing within one year was 58.4 percent which implies translates into high refinancing risk arising from rolling-over domestic debt. The increase in roll-over risk is largely attributed to the high appetite for short term domestic instruments over long term dated instruments by the domestic market investors. The redemption profile in Chart 3 depicts refinancing risk during the first year of the MTDS. The MTDS for the period 2018/19 – 2023/24, therefore, aims partly at mitigating refinancing risk associated with the domestic debt portfolio.
Figure 3: Redemption Profile of Existing Debt (SZL Million)
[pic]
Source: Ministry of Finance.
5. Interest Rate Risk: In the current situation, the average time to re-fixing (ATR) for the total debt portfolio is 3.1 years. The ATR for external debt is 5.3 years while for domestic debt is 1.8 years. The debt re-fixing in one year as a percentage of total debt is 57.7 percent, which is being contributed by short-term domestic debt of 65.3 percent and the non-concessional borrowing with variable rates in external debt portfolio of 44.8 percent. Since concessional borrowing does not looks not feasible in the medium to long term, non-concessional borrowing is likely to increases thus raising risk for high interest rates coupled with the high risk of exchange rates that are dependeant onto many economic and political factors.
6. The proposed strategy of the existing debt portfolio is adopting the domestic borrowing where the country has we would have to develop the market by borrowing more, although the interest stimulated may be high when the bidders are first inviteding the bidders as they would not be absorbed. bBut as time goes on the response would increase and therefore the interest will tend to reducesdecline. The cost and risk indicators are summarized below in Table 4.
Table 4: Cost and Risk Indicators for existing debt as at end 2017/18
[pic] Source: Ministry of Finance.
Arrears
As at the end of March 2019, the stock of Government arrears was estimated at E3.2 billion and Government has made efforts to clear these arrears which have been accumulated since the fiscal year 2016/17. To this end, Cabinet has approved an arrears clearance and prevention strategy which is expected to bring them to manageable levels by doing the following:
a. Monitor and control all commitments with the aim to prioritise critical expenditure by avoiding unnecessary and wasteful expenditure;
b. Prioritise payment of these arrears and align them to cash available; and
c. Continue to explore other sources of funding including domestic sources and cooperating partners.
CHAPTER TWO
DOMESTIC DEBT
This chapter analyses the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland domestic debt in details. Domestic debt is composed of stock of Government securities (treasury bills and bonds), promissory notes and the Central Bank advance to the Government.
Total Domestic Debt
The stock of domestic debt at the end of March 2019 stood at SZL 10.5 billion which translates to an increase of 36.8 percent from SZL 7.7 billion in March 2018 (Table 5 and Figure 4). The increase in the stock was mainly attributed to an increase in outstanding government bonds that immensely increased by 67.2 percent from SZL 3.7 billion recorded in the previous financial year end to SZL 6.2 billion as at the end of the period under review. Treasury bills outstanding balanced increased by 9.5 percent from SZL 2.4 billion to SZL 2.6 billion. The government advanced that was outstanding at the end of March 2018 was securitised to long term government bonds. A new advance was accessed by the government to a tune of SZL 1.7 billion. Promissory notes were the only debt instrument that decreased in outstanding balance as it decreased by more than 100 percent from SZL 351.8 million to SZL 110 million as the government suspended raising debt through this instruments.
Table 5: Outstanding Domestic Debt (SZL Million)
|Instrument |Mar-15 |Mar-16 |Mar-17 |Mar-18 |Mar-19 |
| |SZL' Million |% of Stock |SZL' Million |% of Stock |SZL' Million |
| |SZL' Million |% of Stock |SZL' Million |% of Stock |SZL' Million |
| |SZL Million |% of Total |SZL Million |% of Total |SZL Million |
| |SZL Million |% of Total |SZL Million |% of Total |SZL Million |
| |SZL' Million |% of Total |SZL' Million |% of Total |SZL' Million |
|SGIFB001 |31-Jul-17 | 42,320,000.00 | 41,595,836.50 |10.196% |9.750% |
|SGIFB002 |31-Oct-17 | 222,020,000.00 | 213,835,021.14 |10.698% |10.00% |
|SGIFB003 |29-Dec-17 | 54,402,000.00 | 52,521,990.46 |10.863% |10.25% |
|SGIFB004 |31-Mar-18 | 130,400,000.00 | 124,617,505.57 |10.738% |Prime-0.50% |
|SGIFB005 |31-May-18 | 111,820,000.00 | 106,941,843.33 |10.573% |9.75% |
|SGIFB006 |28-Sep-18 | 40,000,000.00 | 39,731,585.00 |10.738% |9.50% |
Source: Central Bank of Eswatini
Average Interest Rates on Treasury Bills
The average discount rate for the 2018/19 financial year decreased by 34 basis points. The average discount rate for the 91-day, 182-day, 273 and 364-day tTreasury bills decreased by 35 basis points, 28 basis points, 35 basis points and 36 basis points, respectively. Discounts rates for almost all the papers showed an increase towards the end of the period under. The 273 days paper at the end of the period under review had its discount rate above the 364 days paper’s discount rate.
Figure 11: Treasury Bills Interest Rates
[pic]
Source: Central Bank of Eswatini
Interest Payments on Domestic Debt
The total domestic debt as at the end of March 2019 attracted an overall interest amounting to SZL 722.7 million increasing by 25 percent from SZL 578.2 million reported in March 2018. Interest payments on tTreasury Bbonds increased by 74.9 percent from SZL 282.1 million to SZL 493.4 million as the total outstanding bonds increased by 67.2 percent from March 2018 to March 2019 and represented 68.3 percent of the domestic debt service. Interest payments on tTreasury Bbills 9.7 percent from SZL 179.2 million to SZL 196.5 million and represented 27.2 percent of the debt service. Even though the average borrowing cost decreased by 34 basis points, the increase was mainly a result of the increase of the amount outstanding by 9.5 percent from March 2018 to March 2019. Promissory notes interest payments increased massively from SZL 2.2 million in March 2018 to SZL 22.8 million in March 2019. Interest payments on the government advance decreased drastically from SZL 103 million to SZL 9.9 million mainly due to securitisation process at the end of April 2018.
Table 10: Interest Payments on Domestic Debt
|Type of Debt |Mar-17 |Mar-18 |Mar-19 |
| |SZL' Million |% of Interest |SZL' Million |% of Interest |SZL' Million |% of Interest |
|Bonds |147.6 |46.1 |282.1 |48.8 |493.4 |68.3 |
|Promissory Note |0 |0.0 |13 |2.2 |22.8 |3.2 |
|Advance |37.4 |11.7 |103.8 |18.0 |9.9 |1.4 |
|Total Interest Payment |319.9 |100.0 |578.2 |100.0 |722.7 |100.0 |
Source: Central Bank of Eswatini.
CHAPTER THREE
EXTERNAL DEBT
Total Central Government External Debt
Central government external debt stock mainly from official and private creditors stood at SZL 7.1 billion in March 2019 from SZL 5.3 billion in March 2018, a rise of 34 percent (Table 11 and Figure 12). The increase was attributed to disbursements from private, multilateral and bilateral creditors as well as foreign exchange rate movements.
Table 11: External Debt by Creditor Type (SZL Million)
[pic]
Figure 12: Central Government External Debt by Creditor Type (SZL Million)
[pic]
Source: Ministry of Finance.
Structure of Central Government External Debt
Classification by Creditor Category
As shown in Figure 13, the share of multilateral and bilateral creditors decreased from 59 percent and 18 percent as at end March 2018 to 56 percent and 16 percent while private creditors increased from 23 percent as at end March 2018 to 28 percent as at end March 2019, respectively.
Figure 13: Central Government External debt by Creditor Category
[pic]
Source: Ministry of Finance & Central Bank of Eswatini
External Debt Disbursements
Total public external debt disbursements for the period ending 31st March 2019 amounted to SZL 2.6 billion, showing a 46 percent increase from the SZL 1.4 billion recorded in the period ending 31st March 2018. The substantial increase in drawdowns can mainly be attributed to the introduction of 3 new agricultural and road infrastructure projects in the period in review. The drawdowns were made from the following project loans:
1. EXIM Bank of China Construction of Five Star Hotel
2. AfDB Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project
3. AfDB Ezulwini Water Supply Project
4. AfDB Manzini – Mbadlane Highway Project
5. IFAD Small Holder Market Led Project
6. PROBASE Eswatini
7. WBHO/AG THOMAS Lukhula Big Bend
Table 12: External Loans Disbursements (SZL '000)
[pic]
Source: Ministry of Finance.
CHAPTER FOUR
FISCAL COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
Recognizing Potential Fiscal Risks
The Kingdom of Eswatini is aware of increased accumulation of debt as a result of desire to fund major infrastructure development projects as a catalyst to foster economic growth. To minimize exposure and risks associated with debt accumulation the Government has embraced the Public Private Partnerships concept and approach. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives have been on the rise owing to increased demand to finance projects with high rate of return. The PPP model is evident in the road projects through the construction of two roads linking the Kingdom with Mozambique and South Africa and the chemical stabiliser for gravel through using pProbase material.
In addition to these contingent liabilities, the Kingdom is exploring the provision of energy through independent power producers and the medical services. However, there is only a draft policy on PPPs, therefore there is need to strengthen the legal arrangements on these liabilities.
CHAPTER FIVE
PUBLIC DEBT STRATEGY AND DEBT SUSTAINABILITY
Public Debt Strategy
The Medium Term Debt Management Strategy
The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini through the Ministry of Finance prepares a medium-term debt strategy (MTDS) in line with the Public Finance Management Act, 2017, which highlights the annual borrowing plan for each financial year. The aim of the MTDS is to achieve the debt management objectives enshrined in the PFMA as (a) to minimize the cost of public debt management and borrowing over the long-term taking account of risk; (b) to promote the development of the market institutions for Government debt securities; and (c) to ensure the sharing of the benefits and costs of public debt between the current and future generations.
The scope of the 2018 MTDS covers Ccentral Ggovernment external and domestic debt. The time horizon of the analysis is five years starting from financial year 2018/19 through 2023/24, using 2017/18 as the base year.
In FY 2016/2017, the gGovernment’s debt management strategy was to borrow 60 percent of its financing needs from external sources focusing on medium term instruments and 40 percent from domestic sources. External borrowing consists is composed of 23 percent concessional, 23 percent semi concessional and 14 percent on commercial terms. This strategy was arrived at after considering alternatives as presented in Box 1 below.
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|Box 1: FY 2018/2019 MEDIUM TERM DEBT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY (MTDS) |
|Alternative Borrowing Strategies |
| |
|The FY 2018/19 MTDS evaluated the following four (4) possible debt financing strategies for the future (Table 6-1): |
|Strategy 1 (S1 - Current financing strategy): The strategy assumes that, the Ggovernment will continue to maintain gross external financing at 41 percent |
|while of which 59 percent of it comes from the domestic market. The strategy further assumes that the Government will borrow USD 700 million from |
|non-concessional sources as envisaged in the 2017/18 budget frame. |
|Strategy 2 (S2 - Developing domestic debt market): This strategy intends to develop domestic debt market through increasing the proportion of domestic |
|financing relative to external sources and lengthening domestic debt maturity. In this regard, domestic gross financing is assumed to increase from 59 |
|percent to 65 percent starting in 2019/20. The share of short term domestic gross financing is assumed to decline from the current 64 percent to 20 percent |
|by 2021/22 and increase the longer dated instruments[1] from 30 percent to about 69 percent. |
|Strategy 3 (S3 - Eurobond): This strategy intends to venture into international capital market through issuance of a maiden Eurobond as well as increasing |
|proportion of external financing. The strategy, therefore, assumes issuance of Eurobond of about USD 800 million each in 2019/20 and 2021/22 and increase |
|proportion of external financing from 41 percent in 2018/19 to about 45 percent in the medium term. |
|Strategy 4 (S4 - Increase Eexternal Bborrowing and lengthen domestic debt maturities): The strategy assumes an increase in proportion of external financing |
|as well as lengthening of domestic debt maturities. The proportion of external financing increase from 41 percent in 2018/19 to about 45 percent in the |
|medium term. Borrowing from external concessional sources as a ratio to gross external borrowing is assumed to decline gradually from 40 percent in 2017/18 |
|to about 32 percent in 2021/22. The decline in concessional borrowing will be compensated with semi- concessional and commercial loans in line with the |
|prevailing global financial landscape and the need by the gGovernment to finance strategic projects. The share of short term domestic gross financing is |
|assumed to decline from the current 64 percent to about 40 percent by 2021/22 and increase the longer dated instruments from 36 percent to about 60 percent.|
| |
|Table 13: Cost and Risk Indicators under Alternative Strategies |
|[pic] |
|Table 6.1 indicates that continuation of the current financing, strategy 1 (S1), has lower nominal and present value of debt –to-GDP, largely due to high |
|proportion of concessional loans which have low interest rates, longer maturities and grace periods. The second strategy (S2) that aims at developing |
|domestic market has lower refinancing and foreign exchange risks mainly due to relatively higher proportion of domestic debt and longer ended domestic |
|instruments. However, S2 has higher interest costs compared to other strategies on account of higher proportion of longer ended domestic debt instruments |
|which attracts higher interest rates. Strategy 3 that considers issuance of Eurobond in 2019/20 and 2021/22 was the least but one favorable in both cost and|
|risk indicators. The strategy also worsens the average time to maturity of external debt. Strategy 4 that combines more external financing and gradual |
|lengthening of domestic maturities was the second best performer in terms of cost and risk indicators. |
| |
|On the overall, the analysis show that Strategy 1 (S1) outperforms other strategies. However, the change in the external financing landscape amid the |
|increased requirements to financing strategic projects, the feasibility of this strategy is limited. In this regards, Strategy 4 (S4), which assumes more |
|proportion of external loans and gradual lengthening of domestic debt maturity, is the optimal strategy for implementation in the medium term. |
Implementation of the FY 2018/19 MTDS
Over the past five years (2014-2019), the Government has been borrowing on an average 30:70 ratio from domestic and external sources, respectively. Currently, the ratio of domestic debt to external debt is 31:69. External debt consists of highly concessional loans characterized by long maturity and grace period as well as low fixed interest rates. A significant share (82.9 percent) of external debt has fixed interest rates (82.9 percent) while 17.1 percent of the debt is floating rate debt. Given a large proportion of the fixed and low interest rates debt in external debt portfolio, the government’s exposure to interest rate risk is significantly minimized. However, the recent decline in concessional financing and donor flows has necessitated the gGovernment to access non-concessional loans which is expected to gradually increase the share of floating rate debt in the debt portfolio and exposure to the risky factors, that is, interest rate and exchange rate volatility.
A large portion of domestic debt consist of tTreasury Bbills whose rates are fixed only for one year and varies when rolled over. The weighted average interest rate of the domestic debt portfolio is 10.7 percent. This relatively high interest rates has been driven by several factors, including large rollover needs in a market with relatively narrow investor base. In the medium term, however, it is anticipated that average interest rate on domestic debt will decrease over time consistent with low and stable inflation supported with fiscal consolidation.
DEBT SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS
Public Debt Sustainability
The Eswatini Government through the Public Debt dDepartment endeavours to maintain public debt and obligations at sustainable levels in line with section 72 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), 2017. Public debt sustainability is the ability of a country to service its debt obligations as they fall due without disrupting its budget implementation.
The debt sustainability analysis for market access countries (MAC DSA) framework provided the analytical foundation for the debt sustainability assessment. The framework classifies countries as either lower or higher scrutiny depending on whether the ratios of public debt or gross financing needs are below or above the 50 percent and 10 percent indicative benchmarks, respectively. Countries classified as high scrutiny are subjected to a rigorous analysis, including assessment of vulnerabilities that the debt portfolio is exposed to.
Eswatini’s existing debt indicators places the country under the lower scrutiny category, a more granular analysis reminiscent of higher scrutiny countries was applied in view of emerging debt sustainability risks emanating from high primary deficit projected in the outlook, low potential output growth and domestic arrears.
Results of Public DSA under baseline scenario
Under the baseline scenario, Eswatini’s public debt is projected to average 48.2 percent in the medium term, based on a projected medium term average primary deficit of 2.7 percent and a lower projected medium term potential GDP growth of 1 percent. However, public debt can reach 60.6 percent of GDP in 2024 in the absence of concrete fiscal measures. The projected increase from 28.1 percent to a potential 60.6 percent is mostly driven by fiscal deficit and clearance of about 5.5 percent of GDP in domestic arrears. Similarly, the gross financing needs are projected to significantly increase and reach 18 percent if the current macroeconomic framework is maintained.
Figure 14: Evolution of public debt and gross financing need indicators
[pic]
Source: Ministries of Finance and Economic Planning and Development
The country’s debt portfolio will however, gradually increase and remain below the indicative regional target of 60 percent by 2023 if the country’s historical trend is maintained. The picture is the same on the gross financing need which remains well below the indicative threshold of 15 percent assuming maintenance of the historical macroeconomic trajectory by 2023. However, a constant primary balance scenario, which assumes maintaining the 2018 primary balance for the entire projection period, also depicts explosive debt dynamics. This suggest that the current fiscal stance is unsustainable and measures needs to be taken in the medium to adjust the primary balance.
External Debt Sustainability Analysis
External debt is forecasted to slightly rise and stabilize within comfortably lower levels over the projection period under the DSA baseline, with gross financing needs remaining contained. The external debt ratio is projected to substantially increase from around 10 percent and average around 26 percent of GDP. The lower external gross financing need of the public sector is explained by a health balance of payments that the country has been enjoying over the years. The country has been running an average current account surplus of 9.1 percent of GDP over the period 2014-2018.
Figure 15: Evolution of external debt and gross financing needs indicators
[pic]
Source: Ministry of Finance and Central Bank of Eswatini
External debt is also projected to significantly fall in the horizon period if the historical balance of payments trajectory is maintained into the medium term. However, higher borrowing costs may arise from a tightening of global financial conditions. The debt-stabilizing non-interest current account deficit is estimated at 1.8 percent of GDP.
Sensitivity analysis
The results from sensitivity analysis suggest that Eswatini’s public debt is susceptible to macro-fiscal shocks, notably, the growth, interest rate and primary balance shocks. The results are shown in the figure below.
Figure 16: Macro Fiscal Stress Tests
[pic]
Source: Ministries of Finance and Economic Planning and Development
The lower real output growth by one standard deviation relative to the baseline for two years starting in 2019/20 would push public debt up to 45 Ppercent in 2020/21, compared to 39 percent in the baseline. By 2024, debt would be 22 percentage points higher than the baseline. With regards to interest rate shock, an increase in sovereign risk premia by more than 200 basis points starting in 2019 would set both the public-sector debt level on an upward trend. The gross financing need would also follow an upward trend assuming less favourable terms by 200 basis points from the baseline.
CHAPTER SIX
OUTLOOK FOR THE MEDIUM TERM
Public Debt Stock in the Medium Term
The total public debt in nominal terms rose to SZL 15.8 billion in March 2019 from SZL 11.4 billion in March 2018 and is further projected estimated to increase to SZL 19.8 billion in March 2020 (Table 14). As a proportion of nominal GDP, public debt is projected estimated to increase to 30.1 percent in March 2020 from 17.5 percent in March 2017.
As a proportion of GDP, external debt is projected estimated to increase to 14.2 percent in March 2020 from 9.1 percent in March 2019. The domestic debt will also increase to 15.9 percent in March 2020 from 8.4 percent in March 2017.
Table 14: Projected Public Debt Stock
|(Millions SZL) |
| |2015/16 |2016/17 |2017/18 |2018/19 |2019/20 |
|External debt |4,427,050.4 |5,216,099.6 |5,336,341.70 |7,057,962 |9,333,814.8 |
|as a % of GDP |8.3 |9.1 |8.9 |11.1 |14.2 |
|Domestic Debt |3,240,311 |4,790,487 |6,059,900 |8,767,802.2 |10,460,680 |
|as a % of GDP |6.1 |8.4 |10.1 |13.8 |15.9 |
|Total public debt |7,667,361.4 |10,006,586.6 |11,396,241.7 |15,825,764.2 |19,794,494.8 |
|as a % of GDP |14.4 |17.5 |19 |25 |30.1 |
|Memorandum items | | | | | |
|Nominal GDP |53,103,084.9 |57,193,625.4 |60,082,564.6 |63,338,490.9 |65,820,035 |
|Total Revenue |14,265,879 |13,834,392 |16,300,512 |15,462,348 |17,046,152 |
Source: Ministries of Finance, Economic Planning & Development, and Central Bank of Eswatini.
Debt Service in the Medium Term
In nominal terms, the total debt service as a proportion of revenue is projected estimated to increase to 10.4 percent in 2019/20 from 7.6 percent in 2018/19 (Table 15). As a percentage of GDP, total debt service is projected estimated to increase to 2.7 percent in 2019/20 from 1.9 percent in 2018/19.
Domestic interest is projected estimated to increase to SZL 946.2 million in 2019/20 from SZL 574.1 million in 2018/19. As a percentage of revenue, domestic interest is projected estimated to increase to 5.6 per cent in 2019/20 from 3.7 per cent in 2018/19. As a ratio of GDP, domestic interest will increase to 1.4 percent in 2019/20 from 0.9 percent 2018/19.
Interest on external debt is projected estimated to increase to SZL 240 million in 2019/20 from SZL 196.2 million in 2018/19. As a ratio of GDP, interest on external debt will rise to 0.4 percent in 2019/20 from 0.3 percent in 2018/19.
Principal repayments on external debt is projected estimated to increase to SZL 580.8 million in 2019/20 from SZL 410.4 million in 2018/19. As a ratio of GDP, the external repayments will increase to 0.9 per cent in 2019/20 from 0.6 per cent in 2018/19.
Table 15: Projected Debt Service
[pic]Source: MoF, MEPD and CBE
GLOSSARY
• Bond Re-opening
This involves opening up or offering the same paper to the primary market on a date other than its original issue date with a view to increasing its outstanding size.
• Concessionality
A measure of the softness of a credit reflecting the benefit to the borrower compared to a loan at market rate. Technically, it is calculated as the difference between the nominal value and the present value of the debt service as of the date of disbursement, calculated at a discount rate applicable to the currency of the transaction and expressed as a percentage of the nominal value.
• Debt Service
The amount of funds used for repayment of principal and interest of a debt.
• Debt Sustainability
Sustainable debt is the level of debt which allows a debtor country to meet its current and future debt service obligations in full, without recourse to further debt relief or rescheduling, avoiding accumulation of arrears, while allowing an acceptable level of economic growth.
• Debt Sustainability Analysis
This is conducted in the context of medium-term scenarios. These scenarios are numerical evaluations that take account of expectations of the behaviour of economic variables and other factors to determine the conditions under which debt and other indicators would stabilize at reasonable levels, the major risks to the economy, and the need and scope for policy adjustment. In this analysis, macroeconomic uncertainties, such as the outlook for the current account, and policy uncertainties, such as for fiscal policy, tend to dominate the medium term outlook.
• Disbursement
The actual transfer of financial resources or of goods or services by the lender to the borrower.
• Domestic Borrowing
Government borrowing through issuance of local Government securities and direct borrowing from the Central Bank.
• External Borrowing
Government borrowing from both official (Government or Government agencies) and private institutions domiciled outside the country.
• Government Securities
Financial instruments used by the Government to raise funds from the primary market.
• Grant Element
It measures the concessionality of a loan, in the form of the present value of an interest rate below the market rate over the life of a loan.
• Present Value
The present value (PV) is defined as the sum of all future cash flows (interest and principal) discounted at the appropriate market rate. For a loan, whenever the interest rate on a loan is lower than the market rate, the resulting PV is lower than its face value.
• Official Development Assistance
Loans from official development agencies to countries received by the public sector, for promotion of economic development and welfare as the main objective and, extended at concessional financial terms (with minimum grant element of 25 per cent). Loans and credits for military purposes are excluded in this definition.
• Primary Market
This is a market where financial instruments are originated through initial issuance.
• Public Debt
This refers to outstanding financial obligations of the Ggovernment arising from past borrowing. It includes government guaranteed debts to state corporations and local authorities.
• Public Domestic Debt
Part of the overall debt owed by the Ggovernment to creditors domiciled in the economy. The debt includes money owed to commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions, individuals among others.
• Public External Debt
Part of the overall debt owed by the Ggovernment to creditors domiciled outside the economy. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank.
• Secondary Market
This is a market where already issued financial instruments are traded.
• Sovereign Bond
A debt security issued by a national government within a given country and denominated in a foreign currency. The foreign currency used will most likely be a hard currency.
• Suppliers’ Credit
An arrangement under which a supplier or exporter agrees to allow the customer to defer payment under a sales contract.
• Tap sale
It is a continued issuance of a security after its original auction where there was an under subscription.
• Treasury Bills
It is a short-term borrowing instrument issued by the Ggovernment to finance the budget.
• Treasury Bond
This is a medium to long-term term debt instrument issued by the Ggovernment to finance the budget.
• Yield Curve
It is the relationship between the interest rate and maturity of bonds. A normal yield curve shows interest rates for short-term securities lower than interest rates for long-term securities.
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