Swaziland will delay paying salaries to civil servants by up to two weeks, the accountant general's office said Friday in an internal memo seen by AFP, as the kingdom's financial crisis deepens.
The memo said salaries that should be paid on November 20 will only be paid on December 5, with other paychecks to be issued within the following three days.
Swaziland fell into crisis after losing 60 percent of its revenue from a regional customs union last year and has so far refused to take steps to rein in its spending.
The government wants to cut salaries for civil servants, who have taken to the streets in response, stoking a wave of protests against the lavish lifestyle of King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch.
The main labour union quickly threatened new protests if salaries are delayed.
"In light of the developments, we call upon the workers of Swaziland to rise up and change their conditions. There shall be no messiah but only their power shall set them free," said Vincent Dlamini, secretary general of the National Public Service Allied Workers Union.
Finance Minister Majozi Sithole told AFP on Wednesday that the government was not collecting enough revenue to meet its expenses but had decided to stop drawing down its reserves.
"We have serious fiscal challenges right now," Sithole said. "There is no way around reducing the wage bill."
Swaziland's failure to make economic reforms has left it unable to win international loans.
South Africa has offered a 2.4 billion rand ($301 million, 220 million euro) bailout but Swaziland has yet to sign on to the deal, which requires political and economic reforms in return.
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