Johannesburg - Swaziland has not yet signed an agreement for
a R2.4bn loan from South Africa, but it is not clear if it has instead turned
to Qatar for aid, the National Treasury said on Thursday.
"All I know is that the document has not been signed.
We don't know what the delay is," Treasury spokesperson Bulelwa Boqwana
said.
"They never came back to sign."
She was responding to a Daily Sun report that Swazi King
Mswati III had turned down the loan offer from South Africa and instead struck a
deal with Qatar for R10bn in aid.
"An agreement has been reached and it is just a matter
of signing," the newspaper quoted Swaziland Solidarity Network spokesperson
Lucky Lukhele as saying on Wednesday.
South Africa made the loan offer at the beginning of August.
The first tranche was due to be paid on August 31. However, no payment was made
because Swaziland has not signed the document.
Various Swazi newspapers had reported that the country had
appealed to Qatar for financial help without the conditions South Africa had
attached to its loan.
South Africa's loan would have been paid out in three
stages, each conditional on fiscal reforms required by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
As part of the agreement Swaziland had to align its fiscal
policy to IMF standards, allow South African experts unhindered access to
improve the country's fiscal and budgetary plans, create platforms to attract
foreign direct investment, and institute reforms to stabilise Swaziland's
economy.
The kingdom is desperate for financial support after losing
about 60% of its revenue from the Southern African Customs Union, which had
slumped due to slowing trade.