Africa-Press – Botswana. Government’s financial position is not a secret and everyone willing is free to scrutinise how much the country has in current and foreign reserves.
Debating the State-Of-the-Nation Address on November 21, specially elected Member of Parliament, also the Minister of Finance, Ms Peggy Serame said it was a given that post-pandemics, individual and global economies would be affected.
“That is known as the economic business cycle. An example is between 2007 and 2008 when we had a global financial crisis after which economic growth, fiscal and current account balances and foreign reserves among other indicators told a different story pre and post that crisis,” she said.
She said the 2007/08 global financial crisis and the 2015 commodity crisis shocks also confirmed the trend.
Ms Serame said it was therefore not surprising that the pre and post COVID-19 statistics told a different story about Botswana’s economy.
She applauded the country for being one of the few that economically recovered faster post COVID-19.“Botswana’s credit rating, which takes into consideration factors such as the state of the current and forecasted economy, has enabled the country to be among a few in Africa that has an investment grade,” she said.She said this therefore confirmed that Botswana’s economy was healthy and, also brought confidence to investors.
Ms Serame also said such statistics ensured trust among lenders, as they would be confident about the country’s position to repay its loans.
Her response was directed to some legislators who had raised fears during their debate that the country’s foreign reserves had dwindled compared to 2008.
They said this raised fears that the country might be headed for an economic doom.
On other issues, Ms Serame urged Barolong to take advantage of the newly launched Temo Letlotlo initiative to restore the area’s reputation as a farming hub.
She said from history, the Borolong area was known as one of the food baskets of the country.
“As one of the political leaders in the area, I will be willing to assist the venture as much as I can,” she said.
She also said Temo Letlotlo was a good initiative and that its positive results would be realised in the near future.
She also urged farmers in the area to be vigilant as foot and mouth disease was recently detected in neighbouring South Africa, and pleaded with the relevant ministry to be on the alert as well to ensure the disease did not cross over into the country.
Ms Serame also said the call made by some legislators to have Villages Development Committee (VDC) allowances reviewed could be possible, but would be dependent on the available budget.She also encouraged VDC to find ways of raising funds, such as investments in property and increasing rentals of their houses, which she said was paltry low countrywide.
Source: dailynews
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