Swaziland will battle to pay civil servants' salaries this month, Finance Minister Majozi Sithole said, as the tiny kingdom slipped deeper into crisis.
"We will do our best to pay at the end of the month but it is difficult," Sithole said.
"We have serious fiscal challenges."
South Africa has offered a R2.4-billion bailout, but Swaziland has yet to sign the deal, which requires political and economic reforms.
The kingdom's failure to make economic reforms has left it unable to win international loans.
It fell into crisis after losing 60% 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 of civil servants, who have taken to the streets in response, stoking anger at the lavish lifestyle of King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch.
The government had been paying civil servants by tapping its foreign reserves, which had fallen so low that the International Monetary Fund warned of risks to the local emalangeni currency.
Now Swaziland is paying its bills only through tax collection, which Sithole said would not generate enough to pay the salaries of the kingdom's 35000 civil servants.
Unions say they will continue to oppose salary cuts, lashing out at the IMF for not taking them seriously.
Vincent Dlamini, secretary-general of the public servants' union, said pressure should be put on the government to stop projects that wasted money.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 