Released yesterday, the October edition of IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO) projects that Botswana's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by 3.8 percent this year, up from the 3.3 percent forecast in the April edition of the same study.The October WEO also expects inflation to average 7.5 percent this year and the current account balance to be positive at 3.9 percent of GDP, pointing to stronger exports of goods, services and assets over imports.
However, the tone of the latest WEO is largely dark, focussing on the numerous threats to the improved projections for Botswana and most of the sub-Saharan in 2012. According to IMF researchers, chief among these threats for Botswana and other southern African states, will be the potential spillover of subdued growth in South Africa stemming from that country's close integration with the crisis-ridden Euro area."The primary channel for spillovers is trade," the IMF said."South Africa, strongly linked to Europe, would be particularly affected, with possible repercussions for some economies in southern Africa."
