Stop the bleeding, Econsult urges gov’t

For the financial year 2024–2025, government had planned to spend a record P102.3 billion against revenues of P93.6 billion. The downturn in diamonds has meant that revenues have missed their forecasts by a wide mark, whilst the cutback in spending to limit the deficit, has been insufficient.

In an economic update covering the fourth quarter of 2024, Econsult, a firm led by former Bank of Botswana deputy governor Keith Jefferis, estimated that government was incurring a P2 billion shortfall every month due to the squeeze on main revenue drivers this year.