Botswana stands to lose billions in SACU revenues

In a working paper published this week, the IMF says Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, which have already experienced a sharp loss in 2010/11/12 fiscal years due to the global crisis, face additional significant risks of a permanent loss of income as revenues are expected to further decline over the medium-term due to at least three structural factors.

The IMF listed the structural factors to include a change in the SACU revenue-sharing formula currently under discussion, a reduction in the common external tariff rates as a result of trade liberalisation, and the pending creation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) customs union. BNLS countries are currently renegotiating revenue sharing formulae with South Africa after the members threw out an earlier recommendation in June in which Botswana stood to lose P8 billion by 2019.