‘This is bad economics’- Saleshando
Larona Makhaiza | Thursday February 12, 2026 13:01
Responding to Gaolathe's nearly four-hour speech under 40 minutes, Saleshando said the numbers really reveal a dangerous trend of overspending and growing deficits in today's ailing economy.
“In 2024, we collected P69.9 billion and spent P81.6 billion. In 2025, revenue was P71.2 billion, but expenditure ballooned to P96.7 billion. Now in 2026, we are projecting P77.2 billion in revenue against P103.6 billion in spending. That leaves us with a deficit of P26.4 billion,” he said.
Using Gaolathe's words, he used when he first became Minister of Finance and Vice President, Saleshando said this is practically bad economics.
'From the word go, this qualifies to be called BAD ECONOMICS,” Saleshando told MPs.
He further painted a grim picture of Botswana’s Gross Domestic Product ( GDP), saying the country is currently in recession.
“Our real GDP fell from P204.356 billion in 2024/25 to P198.248 billion in 2025/26, a contraction of 2.8%. It is expected to shrink again by 0.4 percent. That is two consecutive years of recession,” he said.
Additionally, he warned that rather than increasing the rate of tax and further plunging citizens' buying power into trouble, the government should focus more on tax collection.
Though LoO criticised most parts of the budget speech, he highlighted that some parts of it done right are a welcome development, which includes penetration into global markets for Citrus and beef.