Abstract: The conventional wisdom in both the public finance and development literature seems to suggest that one of the major roles of government in any society is to enhance social welfare through its fiscal policy actions. An important way through which the government could achieve this would be by spending on things of value to people that they will not otherwise be able to provide for themselves. In this regard, the conjecture is that public spending should be directed, not just at promoting efficiency by correcting for market failure in the economy, but also promoting equity and reducing poverty through the distribution of the gains from economic growth. In this paper we have shown that despite substantial increases in government expenditures on health, education and other social services in Swaziland, poverty continues to be endemic and the poor continue to be under-served in terms of access to basic education, primary health care and better living conditions. The level of poverty remains quite high; 70 per cent of the population continue to live in the rural areas; a small proportion of the population continue to hold a large portion of income; and land remains largely in the hands of the minority. For the objective of poverty reduction and equity to become achievable in Swaziland, fiscal policy actions of the government swill need to be more targeted at the currently underserved and the poor in the society, particularly the rural dwellers. In this way the access of the poor people to health, education and other infrastructure such as housing, safe water and other safety benefits could be guaranteed and sustained.