Finance Minister Peggy Serame has promised that some 35 000 jobs will be created by the mining sector in the next two years.
Serame said this during her budget speech delivered on Monday amid fears that fiscal prudence may hamper growth for the private sector.
The government says it will reduce the public wage bill ostensibly in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations which have irked organised labour in several countries including Botswana.
The economy of Botswana advanced by 6.3% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022, accelerating from an upwardly revised 5.8% rise in the previous three-month period. It was the seventh consecutive quarter of economic expansion, mainly driven by diamond traders (28.5%) on higher diamond prices in global markets and utilities (35.1%), as the local electricity production went up by 36.3% due to improved coal demand from external markets and uptake by Morupule Power Station. All other activities recorded solid increases of more than 1.9%, except agriculture (0.4%). On a quarterly basis, the GDP rose by 4%, rebounding sharply from a downward revised 1.4% contraction in the previous quarter. GDP annual growth rate in Botswana is expected to be 5.90 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. In the long-term, the Botswana GDP Annual Growth Rate is projected to trend around 3.50 percent in 2023 and 3.80 percent in 2024, according to our econometric models.
She said enhancement of project monitoring system will be completed by December 2023.
