Diamond-rich Botswana is expected to register an economic decline by 8.9% in 2020 due to better mining output and a shorter lockdown, according to media reports citing the central bank.
The country had initially projected an economic decline of 13.3% this year.
“The ministry of finance now sees a lower economic contraction in 2020,” Reuters quoted director of research and financial stability at the central bank, Tshokologo Kganetsano as saying.
“The first number was based on an assumption of a longer lockdown and larger contraction in mining activities.”
Botswana ended a 48-day national lockdown on May 21, which saw businesses and schools reopening.
The country recently said it will need about $3.4 billion over the next two and a half years to cater for expected budget deficits and resuscitate the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc.
The projected cost for Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (ERTP) spending was $1.7 billion for over a period of two years and five months, while the projected budget deficit was $1.7 billion over the same period, which adds up to a total of $3.4 billion to be funded.
Botswana’s economy had been struggling since the outbreak of coronavirus, which significantly lowered sales and export of diamonds with the country’s major trading partners China and the USA.
Diamonds dominate the country’s export receipts.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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