Volume 1 - Government of Botswana

Government savings. However, on the former
option, it should be emphasised that
Government domestic and foreign borrowing
as well as debt guarantees are limited to 40
percent of GDP (i.e., 20 percent of GDP for
domestic borrowing and 20 percent of GDP as
external debt). It must also be noted that
foreign exchange reserves have been declining
since the beginning of the global crisis. Total
foreign exchange reserves declined from P72.4
billion in November 2008 to P55.1 billion in
August 2009. At the same time, the Bank of
Botswana Balance Sheet shows that the
Government Investment Account which is part
of foreign exchange reserves owned by
Government, declined from about P32 billion
in November 2008 to P22.8 billion in August
2009.
Going forward, the strategic thrust of
development policy, as has been the case with
past Plans, will be to accelerate diversification
of the economy. The need to achieve this
objective has become even more critical in
view of the global financial and economic
crisis and the envisaged decline in diamond
and SACU revenues. The basic strategy for
NDP 10, therefore, places emphasis on
creating a conducive environment for the
private sector so that it plays a major
role in driving economic development.
This will entail putting more emphasis
on maintenance of productive
infrastructure, providing infrastructure
needs for the private sector as an engine
for economic growth, and continued
investment in appropriate skills targeted
to the needs of the domestic job market
(particularly the private sector).
Emphasis will also be on leveraging
additional support for the service export,
compared to merchandise export in view
of the associated high transport costs,
with the latter.
I, therefore, urge all Batswana and
development partners to look forward to
the next seven years with great vigour
and inclusive participation by all in the
transformation of our nation and aim
towards attaining our ultimate objective
of “towards prosperity to all” by 2016.
O. K. Matambo
Minister of Finance and Development Planning
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