Projected hard times call for reduced public spending-WB

At a workshop held to discuss a Botswana Public Expenditure Review Report in Gaborone yesterday, it emerged that with a less accommodating economic outlook on the horizon due to dwindling diamond and Sacu revenues, which constitute the government's two main sources of income, the country is heading towards fiscal unsustainability if corrective measures are not taken.

The report - whose key findings were that the government should significantly cut public spending and simultaneously look for alternative sources of income - was drafted by the World Bank under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance.