BoB seeks to boost gov�t bonds
Pauline Dikuelo | Tuesday June 20, 2017 18:00
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee last week, permanent secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MFED), Solomon Sekwakwa said they are pinning their hopes on the outcome of the dialogue.
“We are currently in talks with the BoB and BSE and might find a better way of accommodating that and even include it in our guidelines,” he said.
According to the PS, he is impressed with the set 40%, but noted his concern that debts were taken to unproductive sectors.
“I am worried that the debt was not properly utilised as it was used in unproductive sectors thus increasing debt ceiling yet we do not know what might happen in future,” he said.
Sekwakwa was responding to specially elected Member of Parliament, Bogolo Kenewendo who had asked him if the Stocks, Bonds and Treasury Bills Act needs to be revised as it stipulates the country’s debt ceiling.
Further the PS said currently there is an ongoing debate on whether a guarantee should be included in the public private partnership (PPP) and at what percentage.
“There is an ongoing debate if PPP should be included and at what percentage. We even had discussions with International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank who think that we are too protective and we are discussing that to find the best way to do it,” he said.
In addition, Sekwakwa said they are re-visiting the issues that can restrict the levels of borrowing by the country adding that it has never been an issue before, as the country never had money issues.
“It is an area that we are re-visiting. If we remember well, Botswana has never had money problems and the need to borrow has never been a problem. That is why the debt strategy was added to respond to current challenges,” he said.
Sekwakwa said the MFED’s performance in terms of its implementation of the budget especially the development budget continues to be affected by lack of implementation capacity both within and outside the government.
“There was a challenge with regard to the implementation of infrastructure projects in 2016 due to capacity constraints at DBES. Three out of four planned MFED facilities projects did not take off as planned due to limited technical expertise in the public sector,” he said. He added that the ministry continues to work with relevant departments to improve on the capacity to implement projects within government.
In addition, Sekwakwa said the ministry is also promoting increased private sector participation in the delivery of non-core services with the aim of improving overall efficiency.