In a draft budget, Botswana’s Finance Ministry sees the budget deficit for 2023/24 narrowing to 0.1 percent of GDP, or P163m, from a revised 3.4 percent estimated in the current fiscal year, due to higher prices and strong demand for diamonds and fiscal consolidation.
The ministry expects domestic and external borrowings to finance the projected deficit, while forecasting a return to a budget surplus in the fiscal year through March 2025 of 0.1 percent of GDP and 0.4 percent in 2025/26. If achieved in March 2025, that would be the first budget surplus in two decades. The economy is projected to grow by 4.1 percent in the year through 2024, 3.3 percent in 2024/25 and 4.7 percent in the next fiscal year. According to the ministry, these forecasts could deteriorate if a diamond industry recovery is short-lived.
