Saleshando worried over rising govt expenditure as deficits ballon
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday February 16, 2026 09:51
Responding to the 2026/2027 budget, Saleshando, who is also the Leader of Opposition (LoO), said the speech that was presented by the Minister of Finance, Ndaba Gaolathe, is a fiscal strategy that risks mortgaging the country’s future while leaving its systemic weaknesses untouched.
“With this budget, I see a Government that is not yet ready to be bold and intentional about transforming the country and its people,” Saleshando said. “As a result, we are registering increasing deficits. As the deficit increases, we are also increasing the level of debt. From the word go, this qualifies to be called Bad Economics,” he stated. Furthermore, he said the Minister even went an extra mile to pledge that he will not steal a single pula from Batswana, yet he did not tell people how those who have stolen and continue to steal will be dealt with.
In addition, he said the national budget is not merely an annual financial ritual but also a declaration of priorities, a reflection of values, and a contract between the State and its people. “It tells us who we choose to protect, who we choose to burden, and whether we are prepared to confront uncomfortable truths to secure Botswana’s future. With this budget, I see a Government that is not yet ready to be bold and intentional about transforming the country and its people,” he pointed out.
The LoO further pointed out that the truth is that people are facing a crisis that the nation has not had to traverse for decades. Moreover, he said long trusted national breadwinner (diamonds) are in the intensive care unit.
He said, therefore, they can choose to make a plan for life beyond diamonds, or maintain their present lifestyle with the expenditures that were covered by the diamonds, and hope that a miracle will happen and that the diamonds will provide again.
“Our current economic statistics are sobering. They paint a picture of severe economic, fiscal, and social strain. The economy is smaller now than it was at the end of Financial Year (FY) 2023/24. Between FY 2024/25 and FY 2025/26, Botswana’s real GDP fell from P204.356 billion to P198.248 billion,” he said. He said it suffered a 2.8 % contraction in the financial year (FY) 2024/25.
As such, he revealed that indications are that it will contract further in FY 2025/26 by about 0.4%. “That gives us two consecutive years of recession, deterioration of the business environment, loss of jobs, and an increase in the number of Batswana who suffer poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. Between FY 2024/25 and FY 2025/26, per capita GDP fell from P82375 to P78804. On average, Batswana are poorer now than in 2023. Hundreds of thousands go hungry,” he stressed.
He, however, said that for hundreds of thousands of youths, an increasing number of them with college diplomas and degrees, hopes for a job are dimming. “This is not our idea of a 'spectacularly different” Botswana,” he said.
He said both Moody’s and Standard and Poor downgraded Botswana's sovereign credit rating in 2025 and signalled risk of a further downgrade if the Government does not adjust its spending to the structural decline of the economy and government revenue.
He indicated that this budget speech sends the message that they are still struggling to adjust to the structural decline in the economy and the government revenue. Saleshando stated that they have a planned deficit of P26.35 billion in FY 2026/27, with a financing gap of P18.6 billion. Therefore, these factors, according to him, make a further sovereign credit rating downgrade all but certain.
“The downgrade will have dire consequences for our ability to raise capital to finance economic recovery and transformation,” he said. He said Botswana does not only have a revenue problem, as demonstrated by the increasing revenue on an annual basis; they have an efficiency problem, a spending problem, and an accountability problem.
He said choosing a new path is about breaking away from routine budgeting that sustains deficits and instead embracing bold, evidence-driven reforms that prioritise efficiency, accountability, and inclusive growth.
The opposition leader said it signals a shift from dependency on diamonds and broad subsidies toward strategic domestic resource mobilisation, innovation, and economic diversification.
In addition, he said, in a time of fiscal pressure and rising youth unemployment, it calls for smarter taxation, digitised revenue systems, strong governance and oversight, and targeted social protection that empowers rather than perpetuates dependency. “Ultimately, it challenges government and citizens alike to rethink mindsets, moving from business-as-usual governance to disciplined, transparent, and future-focused economic leadership aligned with Vision 2036, Agenda 2063, and the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.