Botswana sees another budget surplus for 2013

GABORONE (Reuters) - Botswana forecast a budget surplus of 0.6 percent of GDP for 2013 but economic growth will not be as stellar as in previous years because of falling demand for diamonds, Finance Minister Kenneth Matambo said on Monday.

Presenting his 2013/14 budget to parliament, Matambo said last year's budget surplus in the world's biggest diamond producer was 0.7 percent of output, lower than the projected 0.9 percent.

Matambo also cut growth expectations to 5.9 percent for 2013 from an estimated 6.1 percent in 2012, when diamond sales fell 29 percent from the previous year.

Botswana rebased its GDP figures in September and said 2011 growth came to 8 percent based on a new base year of 2006.

GDP growth is expected to average 5.7 percent over the next three years, Mathambo said. The government had also shelved all new capital projects for this year and would focus instead on completing projects already underway, he added.

Economists polled by Reuters late last year expected GDP growth of 4.4 percent for 2012 and 4.5 percent this year.

Botswana's growth rates are more than double those of its neighbour and Africa's biggest economy, South Africa, which is expected to have grown just 2.5 percent in 2012 and will likely post 3 percent growth this year.

Diamonds and other mining accounts for 40 percent of economic output in Botswana, one of Africa's most stable countries and its highest-rated sovereign.

The 2013 budget is the second year running of actual or forecast surpluses after three years of deficits caused by the 2008 global financial crisis, which hammered mining revenues.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/botswana-forecasts-2013-14-budget-surplus-0-6-141649479--business.html

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