The data agency had originally declared a trade surplus of P614.7 million in August and another of P678.5 million in October 2012. A surplus of P3.2 billion was also estimated in September. However, this week, the agency said the declaration of trade surpluses in August and October was based on the incorrect treatment of diamond imports bound for aggregation under a deal signed between De Beers and government.
Statistics Botswana has instead declared a trade deficit of P986 million for August and another shortfall of P952.7 million for October. September's surplus was revised down to P1.4 billion, while the November trade balance was revealed to be negative at P340 million."Trade surpluses reported in previous reports were due to the fact that imports of rough diamonds that come to Botswana for aggregation followed by exportation were not recorded since they were taken as temporary trade," the agency said in revealing November trade figures this week.
