31 Jul 2016

The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Kenneth Matambo has told Parliament that some Batswana might not know the historical background of budget constraints.

He, however, said he does not hasten to indicate that the ministry has never missed an opportunity to communicate the message on the budgetary constraints faced by the country.

“This information is communicated through national policy documents such as the National Development Plan and the annual budget speeches. In addition, the ministry continues to communicate the message on the budget constraints through various fora such as the recent consultations with the private sector, non-governmental organisations, academia and local authorities on the draft National Development Plan 11,” he said.

Mr Matambo further said Botswana’s annual budget has not reached P70 billion and that the latest annual budget for 2016/17 is P58.59 billion. He further said classification of countries into low, middle and high income status by the World Bank was based on the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, rather than the annual budget.

Mr Matambo said the per capita income represents the purchasing power of a citizen and that it was a measure of people’s welfare.

Francistown West MP, Mr Ignitious Moswaane had asked the minister if he was aware that most Batswana do not know the history of budget constraints, and also to give a brief amount of budget allocations since 1966.

He further asked the minister to state whether Botswana could be classified as a rich country with an annual budget of P70 billion against the needs of the country. ENDS