Saleshando said this yesterday in a press briefing following Finance Minister, Peggy Serame’s revelation that Botswana’s Government Investment Account (GIA), a national savings account held at the Bank of Botswana, has deteriorated by over P14 billion. He said it is irresponsible of the President as the chief executive officer not to tell Batswana about the state of Botswana’s economy. “What the President is doing shows that he doesn’t have the same economy problems we have. He has no idea what is happening and in his own world, it is Christmas and rainy season. Masisi is a red flag when it comes to the economy,” he expressed. Saleshando said when the country has a President who does not understand the situation that means that the problems will only get worse. Saleshando also said Serame and the BDP have rubbished the reports, which indicate that the economy is currently in recession. Serame told Parliament recently that the GIA’s downward trajectory impairs the ability of government to finance the budget and provide adequate buffer to the economy against unforeseen events and shocks in the future. Saleshando this week said Serame does not dispute many of the issues like the fact that the account has been blown. “She should be telling us why the country finds itself in this kind of state,” he added.
Saleshando said it is the responsibility of Serame and Masisi to tell the nation about the true nature of the country’s economy. He said the government is hiding information that Botswana is in a recession and should stop attacking economic reports from Econsult. Keith Jefferies, an economist at Econsult, believes that government’s expenditure represents an unsustainable pattern of investing in projects and assets that do not yield high returns. Saleshando said the minister should have told Parliament instead of responding to media reports. Moreover, following reports that diamonds sold by Debswana in the first quarter of 2024 fell by 46%, BCP Secretary of Economic Affairs, Sennye Obuseng, told the media that the warnings from Econsult should be taken seriously because diamonds which is a sector that Botswana is depending on has not been doing well recently. He said the crisis is a cause for concern. Obuseng said what really showed that the economy is in trouble was the fact that the diamond prices had fallen by 46.1% in the first quarter of 2024. “If you understand issues of economy you will know that it is impossible for the economy to grow in the next quarter. In our field of economy it means that we are in a recession and that is what they should be telling us,” he said. Obuseng said a recession means that it would be hard to attract investors and borrow money.
He said Botswana is no longer attractive in the eyes of investors. He said their fear as the BCP is that the country runs a risk of having a yearlong recession. “The government is going to suffer because it depends on diamonds. There will budget cuts as a result of this deficit. The government will have to suspend some projects because the Government Investment Account (GIA) is low,” he emphasised. He said the current situation is caused by the prolonged mismanagement of the economy by the BDP-led government. “We have been promised money through programmes such as Temo Letlotlo and Chema Chema and we were given an indication that the money is there. These were rushed programmes which do not have an impact on the economy. We should be focused on investment,” he said. Minister Serame disclosed that government spending substantially increased due to, among others, payment of personal emoluments of P5.75 billion, expenditure on Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) of P1.5 billion for pension augmentation, tariff subsidy to Botswana Power Corporation of P1.5 billion, payment for acquisition of land from Tati Limited Company of P939.3 million (which was a final instalment), P623.1 million for water projects, Chema Chema Funds of P200 million, Air Botswana (P123.5 million for purchase of additional fleet), Subvention to State-Owned Entities (SOEs) and Revenue Support Grant (RSG) to Local Authorities, amongst others.
