GDP numbers sparkle, but household and business struggle
Friday, December 22, 2017
Pic. KAGISO ONKATSWITSE
In September, the Ministry of Finance officials revised the 2017 growth estimate to 4.7% from 4.2% projected in February as higher output from the services sectors and the end of a drought eased pressure on major industries.
But numbers show that households and business are increasingly playing a lesser role in driving the economy and analysts believe the anomaly between the sparkling economic growth numbers and the struggling household is a reflection of Botswana’s economic structural set up.
It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...