31 Jul 2019

Standard Chartered Bank chief economist, Ms Razia Khan says Botswana’s current policy reforms, including its conservative fiscal and monetary policies, are conducive to grow Botswana into a high-income country.

She said this at a meeting held by Standard Chartered Bank to discuss the economic outlook of the country in relation to the current global economic and political challenges. She said Botswana needs more reforms and liberalisations in mechanisms of doing business to enable it to achieve real growth and transformation.

She added that the country risked being trapped into the middle-income status if it did nothing.

She noted that a four per cent growth rate was not enough to graduate Botswana into a high-income country, adding that the country’s economic base did not support rapid economic growth.

 She said the centricity of government needed to be done away with in order to allow the private sector to occupy a larger space of the economy.

She also said while the country had an impressive macro-economic and fiscal management track record, its infrastructure deficit meant that it could not adequately pool investment opportunities for itself, which had a direct impact on sustainable growth opportunities.

She added that to improve its infrastructure, the country needed to take lessons from other countries in order to effectively manage borrowings from both quasi financial and credit lending institutions in order to create export enabling environments.

Moreover, Ms Khan said in pursuing projected growth incomes, the country should not wait for external shocks such as the global economic slump, but should continue to make concerted reforms supported by the country’s endowed labour, capital and current political reforms.

 “Botswana is gradually coming out of the slipper age position where it once was to a position of strength within the SACU region, and that is important for growth and transformation,” she said.

 Ms Khan further advised that Botswana should not dismiss its export potential to neighbouring countries as it would be one way to diversify the economy.

She said special emphasis should be placed on policy making decisions and implementation in order to ensure that those aspects played a central focus to the transformation and growth of the country.

Globally, Ms Khan said financial markets being forward looking would continue to be based on financial results coming from an important trade partner like Botswana. ENDS