23 Feb 2020

Minister of Finance and Economic Development has appealed to legislators to drive the transformation agenda.

Responding to MP’s debate following approval of the budget proposals for the 2020/2021 financial year, Dr Thapelo Matsheka said as the country aimed to transform its economy to a high income status, individuals, including MPs, should know that it started with them.

He agreed with the MPs that there was need for an improved and efficient public spending in all sectors of the economy.

The finance minister further said the approach on infrastructure roll-out should be driven by greater economic benefit.

He said the debate had confirmed that Botswana had limited resources which must be spent wisely and not to finance corruption.

Responding to issues of employment targets, he said such were not necessary in a private sector-led economy.

The minister said the role of government was to create an enabling environment for the private sector to flourish.

He said in 1968, a mixed economy was adopted but had since limited government space to 30 per cent to allow the private sector to grow.

Minister Matsheka thus appealed to MPs to encourage entrepreneurship. He said the private sector in the country was still at infancy stage hence the need for government to support it.

He however said targets could be calculated from the eleventh National Development Plan (NDP 11) projects, adding long term employment was however created by enterprises.

On the National Employment Policy, he said a draft document was to be brought before cabinet soon, adding it took long due to consultations.

He assured MPs that measures would be done to ensure the efficiency of parastatals and their value to the economy, adding that appointments to boards were not made along political party lines.

Dr Matsheka said 80 per cent of funds were for ongoing projects adding they would be reviewed in order to align them to the transformation agenda.

On Public Private Partnerships (PPP), he said several projects had been undertaken, among them the Office of the Ombudsman, Southern African Development Committee (SADC) building and the Lobatse bridge.

The National Transformation Team had been established to come up with the transformation strategy and policy.

To the debate by Mr Tshekedi Khama of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), Dr Matsheka said he was surprised MP Khama criticised the same policies he developed while he was environment, wildlife and tourism minister.

He also criticised Leader of the Opposition, Mr Dumelang Saleshando of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) for failing to encourage Batswana to take advantage of government programmes to venture into business. Ends