Botswana's Finance and Economic Development Minister Peggy Serame presented a P79.79 billion budget (R108 billion) that she said was geared towards delivering broad-based transformation, creating new wealth prospects and expanding economic opportunities for all Batswana.

She said this would be done "through a growth model that leaves no one behind". According to Serame, Botswana is moving towards its goal of being a high-income country by 2036.

However, this can only be done through directing "our resources to areas that will significantly change the lives of Batswana and create new, sustainable economic opportunities", according to her.

Serame said while presenting this year's budget, the economy was being weighed down by Covid-19 and its emerging variants, the war in Ukraine that was pushing the cost of food production up, increasing unemployment, as well as poor quality projects and implementation.

According to data from Trade Economics, unemployment has reached 26% in Botswana, which is up from 24.5% in 2020.

Botswana has projected 4% growth and placed importance on infrastructure development in the proposed budget.

The Ministry of Education and Skills Development will receive the biggest share of P15.04 billion. This money will be used for salaries and allowances, operational costs for public schools, allowances for tertiary students, including food and books, as well as invigilation costs for national examinations.

The health ministry is set to get the second highest allocation � a proposed P10.31 billion � which will go towards containing and mitigating Covid-19 infections.

The other money will be used for the procurement of drugs and operations at the Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital, Botswana's first quaternary teaching hospital.

Defence and security will get the third biggest allocation of P9.84 billion. The money will go towards security issues that threaten Botswana's sovereignty and territorial integrity and the operations of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) contingent operating under the SADC mission in Mozambique.

Part of the money will also be used for the replacement of the old fleet and operational costs of the BDF, the Botswana Police Service, prisons, and rehabilitation services.

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development stands to be awarded P8.22 billion. The bulk of the money will be used for upgrading sub-districts to councils.

Last year, the Revenue Support Grant was reduced, particularly to urban councils, to encourage them to generate revenue so they could fund their own programmes. However, the allocation is still there this year.

Social benefits are also covered under local government and rural development, as well as the procurement of food supplies for primary schools and health facilities.

Other ministries will share P20.28 billion of the budget. Statutory expenditure will take up P21.01 billion.

Serame said she saw growth potential for the economy through improvement in export earnings, particularly in the diamond mining industry and the formalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.