Budget deficit forecast at 6.3 percent

 Addressing parliament yesterday on the 2011/12 annual budget, Finance Minister Kenneth Matambo forecast a budget deficit of 6.93 billion Pula or 6.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product, a sharp reduction from the previous year when the government had a shortfall of 10.1 percent of GDP.

After suffering unprecedented budget deficits in the past three years, mainly due to the global economic crisis, Matambo says government now aims to match its revenues with expenditure by the financial year 2012/13 as diamond sales improve.