Botswana Mining Review Comprehensive Coverage of the Progress and Achievements in the Mining Sector
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World Bank Botswana’s representative Guido Rurangwa, has stated that Botswana had approached the institution and negotiations were underway on the request for budgetary support.
“The government and the World Bank are currently discussing details of the support, including the amount,” Rurangwa said in an emailed response.
Botswana has approached the World Bank for budgetary support after the coronavirus crisis hurt revenue, Finance Minister Thapelo Matsheka said on Thursday.
Botswana has registered relatively few cases, but lockdown restrictions have disrupted economic activities and caused the loss of income in key sectors such as diamond mining and sales.
“We have set up a team and the World Bank has also set up a team to assist us,” Matsheka told Reuters in a telephone interview.
“No quantum is in place yet but ideally if we can get about 50% of the expected 13.6 billion pula ($1.19 billion) deficit for the remainder of the development plan which ends in 2023, that should give us a smoother landing into the next development plan.”
