20 Sep 2022

The 2023/24 budget will focus on potential growth areas as Botswana strives to migrate from middle to high income status.

This was revealed yesterday (September 20) by Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Ms Peggy Serame during a budget Pitso for general stakeholders held in Gaborone .

She said the budget would include macroeconomic interventions aimed at attaining stability and accelerating growth, which would guide the country towards attaining high income status.

“In order to make strides of migrating from upper-middle to high income country status we should continue to entrench the macro-economic stability measures that are critical for socio-economic development,” said Ms Serame.

The minister said the budget would put emphasis on digital transformation, fiscal sustainability, sustaining livelihoods, infrastructure development and business environment reforms.

Ms Serame noted that rising food and fuel prices globally had driven the national inflation rate to 14.6 per cent by last month,  far exceeding the Bank of Botswana’s 3-6 per cent medium term objective range.

Government, she explained, reacted by putting in place measures to cushion households.

They included adjustment of Value Added Tax( VAT) from 14 to 12 per cent and making cooking oil as well as liquid petroleum gas zero-rated for VAT purposes for six months.

“Even though it is expected that these measures will increase the budget deficit slightly, they will however stimulate spending and economic activity especially among low income households,” Ms Serame stated. 

The minister informed her audience of government’s commitment to measures aimed at restocking the government investment account to pre-COVID-19 levels.

She said the measures included revenue maximisation, cost containment such as reducing the wage bill and rationalisation of some state owned enterprises.

Ms Serame pointed out that the budgetary process took place at a time characterised by rationalisation of ministerial portfolio responsibilities, preparation of National Development Plan (NDP 12), Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak and uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“All these emerging issues require that we should all work together and ensure that we implement our budget going forward in a way that will not compromise the integrity of our development path with a common understanding and commitment towards achieving the RESET Agenda, Vision 2036 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” said Ms Serame.

Held annually since 2010, the Pitso follows publication of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development’s budget strategy paper, which contains projections for the next financial year. Ends