Mmegi

World Bank chief sees positives in ‘difficult budget’

Seeing positives: Wang PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO
Seeing positives: Wang PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO

World Bank Country Representative Liang Wang says the 2025-2026 budget speech was a challenging one, developed in difficult circumstances. He also speaks about “productivity-led growth” as a way forward for the economy. PAULINE DIKUELO reports

Mmegi: What are your initial impressions from the 2025-2026 budget speech?

WANG: This is the maiden speech of the new government, and there was a lot of anticipation from the public. It is a difficult budget because people always want more than you can offer. In this instance, I imagine the Vice President aimed to hit the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) target with the speech. Amidst an economic downturn, the Minister, as the lead economic policymaker, has a challenging task ahead.

Editor's Comment
The State apparatus must be sanitised

When the State cannot rely on its own machinery to pursue suspected wrongdoing, repairing that machinery must become a national priority.The establishment of a Special Investigations and Asset Recovery Task Force may help government respond to the immediate challenge. However, Botswana cannot afford to leave the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) struggling whilst building...

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