• No clue in the draft estimates that it exists
• Or is it in the hefty BDF budget increase?
• Not surprising because it’s Khama’s brainchild not Matambo’s
Finance Minister Kenneth Matambo does not plan to increase the Development Budget, according to the recently released estimates. And this begs the question: Where is the Economic Stimulus Package (ESP)? Staff writer TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA and KEABETSWE NEWEL sifts through 2016/2017 Draft Estimates of Expenditure from the Consolidated and Development Funds and find no inkling of the much heralded ESP.
Last week Members of Parliament arrived at their offices fresh from holiday to be handed a package for their perusal. The package; a 500-page-plus blandly packaged tome. The bible-sized document outlines all the estimates that Matambo will be using when he presents his 2016/2017 Annual National Budget proposal to Parliament.
MPs who have found time to more than peruse the document would have been left wondering: “Where is the stimulus package?” If it existed the ESP would have been easier to find in a sizable Development Budget. For the uninitiated the National Budget consists of two main portions – the Recurrent Budget where all the government’s existing and ongoing spending such as salaries are located. The second part is the Development Budget which consists of new developments that government intends to implement in the financial year covered.
Over the last few years the total budget has hovered around the P65-billion mark. The Recurrent Budget accounts for around P50 billion while the rest goes to the Development Budget. The ESP, if it was to be found anywhere, would be in the latter for it is a once-off development programme.
To be fair to Matambo, he did not really promise much in the way of ESP; it was President Ian Khama who indicated something substantial would emerge with the budget.
So where is the ESP? It is hard to find. We attempted to locate it in the pages of the estimates but no avail. Firstly, we looked at the total amount of the Development Budget where Matambo proposes to spend P14 821 209 754 this coming year compared to P14 317 984 905 in the current financial year. This is a rise of about P503 224 849.
Not a bad amount if you are planning to procure a presidential jet but the ESP was supposed to be something ground breaking.
The ESP was to replace the gnashing of teeth with wide smiles, emaciated bodies with full bellies. Matambo has added half a billion to his Development Budget. It is not the P2-billion that the ESP promised. However, there could be a catch – perhaps the ESP is hidden in the fine print like your insurance contract agreement. Perhaps the ESP has been stashed in the ministries for that matter.
A cursory look at the pattern of spending reveals that most ministries are looking to reduce their development spending. In fact, only six ministries intend to increase their spending. The ministries of Defence, Justice and Security, Health, Lands and Housing, and that of Trade and Industry reported increased spending alongside bodies such as the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and Administration of Justice.
P2 billion for BDF.
The Ministry of Justice, Defence and Security shows a marked increase in development spending, with a gargantuan P2.2 billion hike from the current financial year.
The Ministry of Justice, Defence and Security shows a marked increase in development spending, with a gargantuan P2.2 billion hike from the current financial year. Perhaps that is where the ESP lies. However, given that apart from the occasional construction of staff houses and police stations, the ministry does not like to spread its funds around and therefore it is reasonable to assume that most of the P2 billion will end up in some Swiss account as commission for some arms dealer.
In fact, in the fine print at the back of the document, the Finance Ministry states that the extra P2 billion will be used at the Botswana Defence Force to enhance “defence capability”.
The P2-billion is accounted for by the increase in development spending for BDF, which is projected to rise from P1.1 billion to P3.2 billion. Oh, well.
Therefore if you deduct P2 271 239 628 from the total Development Budget of P14 821 209 754 you remain with a mere P12 549 970 126. That suggests the Development Budget, minus the BDF bonanza, is seriously reduced compared to the current financial year.
The Ministry of Health has an increment of P382 million, the only ministry with an increase of more than P100 million. Overall the Financial Year 2016/17 shows a conservative disposition at its most effective.
Maintenance and Running Expenses
If the ESP is nowhere to be found, perhaps it is lying low hidden in some line items seldom obvious. The best way to find opportunities for tenderpreneurs is in the line of spending called Maintenance and Running Expenses, which includes repainting walls and re-ceiling roofs – that sort of thing. Across the board the spending is either flat or decreases. Unless The Business Weekly & Review is missing something, this hardly counts for a stimulus package.
Matambo’s options
Matambo could still have a trick up his sleeve. He has two options to spring a surprise on the unsuspecting public; he could return later, say around September when MPs are in a festive mood for the 50th independence celebrations and request supplementary additions. However, history suggests that if Matambo is to request serious figures commensurate with an ESP it would require a more presidential method. In that case he could simply approach Khama, request an extra amount, get him to approve it and return to Parliament. Mid-way through his spending he could request the House to ratify the extra spending. It is all messy stuff given that last time Matambo did that, MPs were not overly impressed.
The truth is that if Matambo had an ESP to implement he would have done so explicitly through the Budget proposal, not through some sneaky tactics. The only conclusion is that Matambo may not have an ESP after all, which would not be surprising given that the ESP has never really been the his pet. It was dumped on his lap by Khama, while he (minister)was busy cobbling together the National Budget.
Perhaps the conclusion is simple – there is no ESP because Matambo and his experts at Finance Ministry know that there are no funds for such a thing.