05 Feb 2013

 

 Finance and Development Planning Minister, Mr Kenneth Matambo told Parliament on February 4 that maintenance and repair of existing government assets will continue to be a priority.

Thus, Mr Matambo when presenting the 2013/14 budget, that about P1.77 billion has been allocated to maintenance and refurbishment of government buildings (P798 million), equipment (P548 million), roads (P388 million) and P32 million for others.

Minister Matambo also proposed a P4.74 billion budget for statutory budget which comprises repayment of loans, pensions and gratuities as well as personal emoluments for specified officers. 

Consequently, the minister has presented a projected out-turn budget surplus of P779 million which is a about 0.6 per cent of forecast Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The proposed total revenues and grants for the 2012/2013 financial year are forecast at P44.02 billion while total expenditure and net landing are forecast at P43.24 billion. 

Customs and Excise at P13.68 billion has contributed largely to the revenue followed by mineral revenue at P13.25 billion, while the third largest contributor is non-mineral Income Tax at P8.97 billion.

For the recurrent budget, Mr Matambo recommended a total of P34.48 billion expenditure from the Consolidated Fund, out of which the ministerial recurrent budget accounts for P29.74 billion and P4.74 billion for statutory expenditure.

The Ministry of Education and Skills Development takes the largest share of the recurrent budget of P7.93 billion followed by the Local Government and Rural Development ministry at P4.44 billion.

The third largest share has been allocated to the Ministry of Health at P4.42 billion while the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security takes the fourth allocation of P3.73 billion and the remaining budget of P13.98 will be shared among other ministries.

Under the development budget, Minister Matambo has recommended P11.10 billion and the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources takes the highest budget of P2.98 billion.

Four other major projects account for 99.51 per cent of the ministry’s budget and these include water planning and development at P1.38 billion, sewerage systems for Kanye and Molepolole at P469 million, major village water supply at P225 million; mainly to cover the North South Carrier connections to the major villages of Kanye and Serowe; BPC finances to cover emergency power at P300 million; Morupule A and B power stations at P160 million and P200 million respectively.

The allocation under the water planning and development project will mainly cover completion of Thune and Lotsane dams.

Second in allocation is that of the Ministry of Transport and  Communications at P1.85 billion accounted for by bitumen and trunk road improvement projects at P728.50 million, air transport infrastructure projects at P636.50 as well as development of ICT facilities at P274 million.

The education and skills development ministry is allocated the third largest share of P1.18 billion under the development budget where the secondary schools project constitutes the largest share of P997 million to cover staff housing; expansion of junior secondary schools and refurbishment of junior and secondary schools; construction of computer laboratories; as well as provision of electricity in schools throughout the country.

Meanwhile, the minister explained that the 2013/14 budget was prepared within the context of considerable uncertainty in the world economy.

That, he said, impacts negatively on the country’s projections for the domestic economy and particularly government’s revenues.

Thus, he said, government must remain ready for another shock, despite continuing to rebuild government’s reserves and reduce the total debt level which, he said, currently stands at P28.737 billion of the 2012/13 GDP.

As a result, he said, the strategy was to return to sustained high growth for the benefit of all Batswana while ensuring that the country is positioned to deal with unforeseen shocks.

That, he said, required that all policies were focused on productivity, competitiveness and diversification, complemented by well-structured social safety nets.

He noted that in such circumstances, prioritisation must form part and parcel of every dimension of planning with the ultimate goal of getting the most from each Pula of expenditure to achieve such priorities.

“This means that we need to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in all government and parastatal operations,” he said.

Further, he said for the private sector, an improved business climate must set the pace for future competitiveness and economic growth. 

He said government must also focus on provision of goods and services that the private sector would not normally provide to society as a whole in terms of better roads, health facilities, water supplies, sanitation, education, law enforcement and policy formulation.

The minister added that government was expecting the economy to continue its recovery in the final three years of NDP 10. The real GDP is expected to grow at an average rate of 5.7 per cent during this period, and the share of non-mineral private and parastatal sectors in the economy to reach 70 per cent, he said.

“Unfortunately, it is unlikely that we will be able to achieve the aspiration of Vision 2016 that real GDP per capita in 2016 would triple that of 1996. 

This makes it even more urgent to put effort on the reforms necessary to achieve our ambition.”

Notwithstanding, Minister Matambo acknowledged technical assistance and financial support Botswana receives from her development partners saying “without their support, it would be difficult to accomplish our development goals given these trying times.” ENDS