SOEs record P485m in losses

Friday, May 08, 2026 | 280 Views |

Weighty challenges: Gaolathe speaks frequently on the need for belt-tightening, but government not only continues to support parastatals that could be privatised, but is also in-sourcing a number of previously outsourced services
PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG

The extent to which taxpayers are carrying the burden of unprofitable parastatals became clear recently, with the Auditor General estimating that accumulated deficits within a number of State-Owned Entities reached P485.1 million as at March 2023, versus the P15.5 billion in funding they received that year.

Whilst established to ensure cost-effective public service delivery or facilitation, SOEs, also known as parastatals, have become significant weights on the budget, losing hundreds of millions of pula each year, after gobbling billions more for their operations.

The latest Auditor General report indicates that the year to March 2023 was no exception. The accumulated deficits of P485.1 million were up from P483.3 million in the prior year.

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