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GABORONE, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Botswana Minister of Finance and Economic Development will on Monday present the country's 2021-22 financial budget to the Parliament, with analysts anticipating a huge deficit for the upcoming fiscal year.
Expectations are high that the minister will reveal plans to revive different sectors of the economy that suffered heavy losses due to the spread of COVID-19.
Naledi Madala, an economist with Absa Botswana told Xinhua that the upcoming budget is being prepared against the backdrop of an extremely challenging economic environment.
"Healthcare has emerged as a top priority in the wake of the pandemic. We expect to see higher budgetary support for the health sector for ensuring an efficient vaccine rollout and distribution," said Madala.
However, the question arises where the government will get the revenue to revive the economy as the budget already carried a huge deficit from the last financial year. It has been reported expensively that the government will cut on spending, increase taxes and reduce subsidies.
Already there has been an indication of conflicting ideas to balance saving lives and ensure the economy continues to run. The country is now 10 months into a State of Public Emergency to effectively deal with the effects of COVID-19.
On Friday, the government announced that an existing curfew that has been in place since December last year would continue until the end of February. A ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages that was implemented at the beginning of January will also continue. The alcohol industry has been hit hard by this with the local brewer Kgalagadi Breweries Limited announcing suspension of its operations last week, leaving many of its employees jobless.
The private sector has expressed concern about the negative impact the continued curfew will have on businesses especially retailers, distributors and manufacturers who have been struggling already. A statement from Business Botswana on Friday said consideration should have been made for the alcohol trade to continue in a restricted manner.
Meanwhile the Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) has appealed to the government to protect jobs through continuing to assist enterprises especially Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) with a loan guarantee scheme to prop up businesses.
Leader of opposition Dumelang Saleshando on Friday said Batswana should expect an honest assessment of the state of the economy from the budget speech. Speaking on a local radio station, Saleshando said that "many people are likely to lose their jobs because of restricted business opportunities and therefore the country needs to come up with a plan to stimulate the economy in the midst of the pandemic."
The minister is also expected to give assurance on the country's immediate plans to procure the COVID-19 vaccine for its population of 2.3 million following a large increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths since the start of the year. Enditem
