The Bank of Botswana (BoB) said Thursday that it anticipates that the increase in government spending as well as implementation of initiatives such as the Doing Business Reforms should be supportive of economic activities.
The government’s wage bill is expected to shoot up after salaries for civil servants and security forces were adjusted last month.
The central bank governor Moses Pelaelo informed reporters that in 2019 Gross Domestic Product was projected to increase by 4.2 percent.
He said the significant influence was on domestic economic performance, including; conducive financing conditions as indicated by accommodative monetary policy and sound financial environment that facilitate policy transmission and intermediation and risk mitigation.
Overall, in the short to medium term, Pelaelo said the economy was projected to operate close to, but below the full capacity, thus posing no upside risks to the inflation outlook.
Due to the continued good performance in non-mining sectors and the recovery in mining output, he said Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.5 percent in 2018, compared to a lower expansion of 2.9 percent in 2017.
KO/as/APA