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S&P maintains Botswana’s credit rating but dims on economy

Watching trends: Finance Minister, Ndaba Gaolathe, faces a baptism of fire in his first fiscal year, handling a diamond-led recession PIC PHATSIMO KAPENG
Watching trends: Finance Minister, Ndaba Gaolathe, faces a baptism of fire in his first fiscal year, handling a diamond-led recession PIC PHATSIMO KAPENG

The interest rates the country pays for its debt will remain steady for now, but attracting investment may become more difficult after a leading agency maintained its credit ratings assessment of the country but lowered its outlook on the country’s economy.

S&P, one of three main credit ratings agencies whose opinions determine government’s cost of borrowing, maintained the country’s high sovereign credit ratings but revised the outlook from stable to negative.

The decision, announced on Friday evening, is the first time S&P has downgraded Botswana’s outlook since September 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic upended the economy.

Editor's Comment
Who watches the watchdog?

For a fact, in a democratic society such as Botswana, the media plays a crucial role of being watchdog, holding the powerful to account and exposing all possible wrongdoing for the benefit of the public.There has been a nagging question about who watches the watchdog after all? Perhaps, the investigations into alleged wrongful acts implicating those supposed to be playing the watchdog role will shed more light into what has happened such that the...

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