Deputy permanent secretary at the office of the president, Jeff Ramsay said he has no special expectations from the budget and is waiting for Monday. The president of MELS, Themba Joina said he expects the budget to push certain projects intended at appeasing the majority of rural area dwellers as the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has a huge following in those areas. He doesn't have high expectations when it comes to projects geared at diversifying the economy at this juncture. He envisaged that there will be no efforts to sustain the economy, but instead more expenditure will be directed towards Ipelegeng and rural infrastructure development. He further said a larger portion of the budget would be used towards campaigning for the 2014 general elections. He also said he doesn't expect the unemployment rate to decrease but rather, more programmes that will appeal to youth will be created, like Back To School, agricultural programmes and many more haphazard initiatives so that the BDP can retain power.
The information and publicity secretary of Botswana Congress Party (BCP) Taolo Lucas said that there is no need for excitement over the budget speech as it has not changed ordinary Batswana's lives for the better.
