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Botswana to slash growth forecast amid prolonged diamond market downturn - REUTERS
By Brian Benza
GABORONE, June 2 (Reuters) - Botswana will cut its 2025 economic growth forecast to almost zero due to a prolonged downturn in the global diamond industry, a senior financial ministry official said Monday, with the budget deficit also seen widening due to reduced diamond revenue.
Botswana is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value and its economy largely depends on diamond exports, which normally contribute around 30% of national revenues and 75% of foreign exchange receipts.
In the 2025 Budget, announced in February, finance minister Ndaba Gaolathe had projected 3.3% growth this year based on an expected rebound in the diamond market.
For the 2025/26 financial year, running from April to March, he had forecast a budget debit of 7.56% of gross domestic product, lower than the last financial year's estimated deficit of 9% of GDP.
But permanent secretary in the ministry of finance Tshokologo Alex Kganetsano told a parliamentary audit meeting on Monday that those estimates were no longer possible to achieve.
"In view of what has happened since ... February, we are going to revise this growth forecast downwards," Kganetsano said.
