Higher diamond sales coupled with the recent rebasing of GDP accounts have seen Botswana revising its economic growth to 9.7% in 2021 from the previous forecast of 8.8% in February.
"The larger than forecast contraction in 2020 is … expected to be offset by an improvement in growth in 2021 which has now been revised upwards to 9.7% growth for the year," Reuters quoted finance minister Peggy Serame as saying.
Debswana’s rough diamond sales rose 41% in the first half of the year driven by demand from major markets the United States and China.
The company’s rough diamond sales dropped by 30% in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Botswana recently revised its real GDP accounts base year to 2016 from 2006 to improve the accuracy of its measurement of economic growth.
As a result of the rebasing, last year’s economic contraction was 8.5% instead of 7.9% initially reported, while nominal GDP is now 4.6% lower at $15.5 billion.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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