26 Feb 2023

Members of Parliament have concluded debate on the 2023/2024 budget proposals.

The Appropriation Bill of 2023, which Minister of Finance, Ms Peggy Serame, presented to Parliament on February 6, passed the second reading last Thursday.

In response, Ms Serame appreciated the MPs difference of opinion during their contributions to the bill.

“When such a bill is put before Parliament, it is only a given to have a difference of opinion, and such opinions are vital for future budget planning and we will consider them,” she said.

Ms Serame noted that during the debate, most Members of Parliament complained that their constituencies would not benefited much from this year’s allocations.

Conversely, some MPs felt that certain ministries deserved more given the central role they played in ordinary Batswana’s lives.

She, however, advised legislators that budget allocations corresponded partly to ministries previous expenditure’s.

Ms Serame also dismissed complaints that the Ministry of Finance often delayed disbursing  funds, something that some MPs said contributed to a slow start to planned development projects.

“The budget cycle is not a once off thing.

It starts as early as March and consultations with ministries’ officials are held constantly throughout the year.

This then gives accounting officers an idea on estimates that their ministries would get.

So, this puts them in a good position to start pre-planning through project memoranda,” she explained.

To that end, Ms Serame said her ministry always disbursed funds to ministries as early as March and that any delays in transferring funds to implementing departments would then be by the parent ministries.

On the recurrent budget, Ms Serame advised ministries not to despair when they run out of funds midway as her ministry was always ready to assist.

She advised accounting officers such as permanent secretaries that they were allowed to make virements to cover shortages, save for funds meant for salaries and allowances.

Ms Serame said in its efforts to diversify the economy, government should not only focus on priorities such as value chain development, but should also diversify its exports to more than just diamonds because such would help diversify sources of revenue.

In addition, she assured legislators that their concerns on leakages of funds and poor collection of government revenue would be addressed, citing some instances where some companies collected Value Added Tax, but failed to remit it to the Botswana Unified Revenue Services.

Ms Serame further explained that even though some MPs who argued that ministries such as that of Defence and Security were allocated unnecessarily large amounts, by their nature, such ministries required expensive equipment, which warranted a large allotment from the national coffers.

Ms Serame disclosed that in the next financial year, her ministry would reserve P350 million for civil servants who would be ready to take early retirement. ENDS