Govt raised false hopes with ESP � Analysts
Pauline Dikuelo | Wednesday February 3, 2016 15:59
Speaking at the inaugural Gabz Fm budget review seminar in Gaborone yesterday, experts referred to ESP as a name that had been coined to refer to government’s eradication of backlog in construction projects.
The 2016/2017-budget speech presented by Finance Minister, Kenneth Matambo on Monday only mentioned a handful of projects amounting to about P1.3 billion without giving out the total economic rescue package.
Independent economist, Obuseng Sennye said initially the stimulus package was supposed to stimulate the economy rather than pursue the diversification process and the backlog of projects.
“The way the ESP was introduced, it has raised false expectations to the public which resulted in youth mostly thronging the Registra of Companies to register in order to catch up on this lifetime opportunity. Unfortunately, what is being presented now is totally something different, and would not create sustainable jobs,” said Sennye.
Although a P6 billion budget deficit is estimated for the 2016/2017 financial year, the gap is only driven by a reduction in revenue rather than an increase in spending.
In fact, government spending is estimated to actually go down in the coming financial year by about 2.7 percent.
According to Sennye, the government should start involving the private sector in order to sustain the economy by moving from being a mineral-based economy to a value chain and service sector-based one if they are planning on building a long-term resilience to economic shocks.
“Government lacks tangible action, as it has not been able to act on the agenda of transforming the economy despite the feedback it got from the World Bank and other reports. It should have a proper accountability framework. It is high time we get serious about developing it,” added Sennye.
In addition, Business Botswana president, Lekwalo Mosienyane argued that government should have a clear agenda of transforming the economy, as these projects cannot stimulate it (economy).
“Government should appreciate the private sector’s role as an enabler because it has competition and creates sustainable jobs unlike government, which is a tax revenue consumer,” said Mosienyane.
He added that government should be more interested in creating a conducive operating environment for the private sector to enhance productivity, which will create jobs and contribute in the growth of the economy.
“Government should appreciate that we are at a tipping end and if it wants to see progress, it should reform and involve us,” added Mosienyane.
However, he suggested that government should be involved in the monitoring and evaluating of projects.
For his part, the Botswana Chamber of Mines CEO, Charles Siwawa said government needs to take the backlog to a coordinated system, which is different to avoid piling one backlog on top of another.
“Officers need to be trained to be able to do that because if it is not done, it is going to be worse. The new Vision 2036 should be more of the private sector participation,” advised Siwawa.
Agriculture was named as one of the sectors that need to be taken into consideration, as it has remained a low productive sector having not shown any improvement.