Kenneth Matambo

"In terms of Section 13 of the Banking Act, administered by Bank of Botswana, a bank is required to maintain a minimum capital adequacy (solvency) ratio of at least 15%, calculated as unimpaired capital to total risk – weighted assets,”"

"It is critical that by the end of the Plan period – NDP 11 –, all planned programmes are achieved in order to take the country forward. However, to achieve this will require adoption of measures to increase the country’s implementation capacity."

"On the other hand, a Development Budget of P17.47 billion is proposed to finance on-going and new programmes and infrastructural projects being implemented throughout the country. However, the implementation of the development budget is likely to continue to be undermined by implementation capacity, which characterises both the public and private sectors."

"With regard to employment creation, it is important to clarify that the principal role of the Government is not to create jobs directly, but to provide a conducive macroeconomic environment to facilitate the development of the private sector. The private sector, in turn, is expected to take advantage of such an environment to undertake investments, which would contribute to the growth of the economy and creation of sustainable employment opportunities."

"It is my sincere hope that as more banks and branches open in the country, competition will increase and thereby reduce the relative costs of banking services."

"Promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth is vital for promoting long term economic development as well as addressing the demographic challenges that we are currently facing."

"We do not have a problem with China at all."

"We have dealt with China before and we know what we are doing as a government."

"Care needs to be taken not to overburden our future economic pathway with too much debt, which becomes the first call on future revenues."

"Government must also exercise caution in the use of accumulated cash reserves to finance development initiatives."

"We need to thoroughly examine the way we have been doing our business. We need to accept that today’s challenges require a new set of solutions and strategies, and be prepared to let go of old practices that no longer yield good results. We must find innovative solutions that are consistent with the changed environment."

"It is not because we do not want to do it, definitely we also want our people to live comfortably by earning a minimum wage or as some call it the living wage. Semantics do not matter. We cannot do it now at least because we have constraints. You cannot just announce it and say we will do it on day one."

"I am saying the net effect will surely be increased unemployment. That is what it would be. It will be almost immediately, not in the medium to long term, but immediate."

"So, this promise I dismiss it. It is really only a campaign talk. It is easy to do this if you are not accountable to anybody, it is easy. In reality if you tried it, you will have a worst situation about unemployment than we have today. That is the fact."

"I have no problem with the President of South Africa doing this, in South Africa he can afford to mention these figures, because he has a private sector that works. Private sector there works, it does not wait for government tenders, that is not what they wait for, they produce in order to sell internationally."

"Always give and that is an unfortunate situation we are in, but I am hopeful that it will improve in due course when the private sector matures, but for now it is a private sector to have a nurse the whole time. I am not going to accept any comparison with South Africa."

"Of the total P67.5 billion expenditure planned for the 2019/2020 financial year, P22.4 billion, or one-third is for paying salaries and allowances for those employed in the public service, while the balance of P45.1 billion or 66 percent will be available for government procurement of goods and services from the private sector. This is a significant amount availed by government to spur growth of the economy, and create employment opportunities."

"We need to continue to look at ways and means of achieving improved standard of living for our people. We should aim for high impact activities and policies for people centred development.We should aim to broaden the SADC economic bases with the aim of creating employment for our people."

"I urge the private sector to take responsibility for aligning their operations with our National Development goals so that together we move Botswana forward into the realisation of Vision 2036 and beyond."