Mid-term national budget in surplus
Friday, December 08, 2017
In the black: Despite Matambo predicting a P 6.5 billion deficit for the year, the budget was in surplus at half a year
The Botswana Financial Statistics (BFS) report for October reveals that at the end of the half-year period to September 2017, the budget posted a surplus of P107 million. At this point last year, the budget showed a cumulative deficit of P1.7 billion suggesting a healthier fiscal position in the current financial year.
Government financial year starts in April and ends the following March.
It is a clear signal that the government’s purse is empty and that our own behaviour has left veterinary officials fighting with one hand tied behind their backs. We have been here before. During COVID-19, many of us thought we knew better. We ignored simple rules, we carried on as if the danger was someone else’s problem, and the virus took lives and left our economy on its knees. We are still broke from that experience. Yet now, with FMD...