Mbabane: As the implementation of the Fiscal Adjustment Roadmap (FAR) rolls-out, government will publish fiscal data for all the ministries. This was revealed by International Monetary Fund representative Africa Department Joannes Mongardini at the IMF presentations for the country's FAR on Monday. He noted that such a move would take place every three months and was envisaged to inform concerned citizens of the country as to how money was spent by government.

"The publication of the fiscal data will be a continuous exercise that will be done every three months. We anticipate having a government that has fiscal transparency to avoid more damage with regard to abusing government money by culprits. The country's citizens must be aware as to how government spends money. This exercise was supposed to be implemented some time ago," he said.

Mongardini noted that fiscal transparency would solve fiscal corruption as the problem of corruption was endemic in all institutions. He noted that the current economic situation that had engulfed the country required its citizens to ask tougher questions about government.

Highlighting the country's economic performance, he noted that the country had been importing more than it was exporting. He said Swaziland was highly integrated in the world economy but its external competitiveness had been deteriorating in the last two decades. He noted that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) was driven by labour growth, capital growth and total factor productivity.

Mongardini also noted that Swaziland had lagged behind in attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs) and over time very little was done by government. He said government was told to treat FDIs the same way as it treated domestic investors. He suggested that a friendly environment for investment be created by government to lure more foreign investors into the country.

Mongardini was adamant that Swaziland had a room to improve from the economic situation and would get back to its feet as long as the FAR was properly implemented. He noted that change would be realised in some few years to come.