Mood's forecasts 7% drop for Botswana's economy

Leading credit ratings agency, Moody’s expects Botswana’s (gross domestic product) GDP to contract by seven percent this year, a more optimistic outlook than government’s own forecast of a 13.1% drop.

In a position announced recently, Moody’s however affirmed the country’s long-term local and foreign currency issuer ratings at A2, amongst the highest in Africa. The status means Botswana is one of the continent’s best borrowers and technically one of the best countries to raise international capital from.

In the latest update, Moody’s said the expected seven percent contraction would be due to the sharp slowdown in domestic demand and the disruptive impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the mining sector, particularly diamonds.

Editor's Comment
Violence doesn't solve anything!

Our weekly edition carries painful articles of people being murdered. Whilst some are classified as Gender Based Violence (GBV), there are still a large percentage of murder cases, which often happen at drinking spots, after people are heavily intoxicated. We have in the past carried articles where an individual was murdered because they refused to give someone a cigarette, and sadly this is where we are at now!In this very edition, there is an...

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