Mmegi

Public debt pile nears domestic limit

Fiscal headquarters: The Finance Ministry has difficult decisions to make going forward around spending and new revenue lines
Fiscal headquarters: The Finance Ministry has difficult decisions to make going forward around spending and new revenue lines

Government’s debt pile is nearing its limit for domestic borrowings, being at P42.6 billion or about 18.7 percent of Gross Domestic Product, just under the 20% ceiling, a senior Finance ministry official has confirmed.

Under its own statutory rules, government constrains its debt to 20% of GDP for domestic funding and 20% of GDP for external funding.

However, government, through the Bank of Botswana, has been on a flurry of debt raising activities in recent months, as the prolonged diamond downturn has eaten into public revenues, whilst commitments such as salaries and outstanding invoices have pressured the public purse.

Editor's Comment
A promising step for public schools, but...

For too long, the state of many public schools has been a source of shame. We have all seen the pictures and heard the stories of broken windows, unreliable water and electricity, topped by classrooms that are not fit for proper learning. The establishment of the Education Infrastructure and Management Company Ltd (EIMC) signals that authorities are finally ready to take this problem seriously. We must commend the government for this initiative....

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