Local firms less buoyant on economic growth in 2021

Domestic companies expect overall output to expand by 2.9 percent in 2021, which is a significantly less optimistic view compared to the projected 8.8 percent and 8.3 percent growth by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, and the International Monetary Fund, respectively. This is according to the latest Business Expectation Survey conducted by Bank of Botswana. On quarterly basis, firms expect GDP to increase by 3.2percent and 3.7percent in the second and third quarters of 2021, respectively. Expectations about growth in the second quarter of 2021, are misaligned with the expected deterioration in sectoral performance in the same period. “However, the positive growth expected in the third quarter of 2021 is consistent with the anticipated improvement in business conditions and the envisaged global economic recovery during 2021, even though the recovery is threatened by the emergence of new variants of COVID- 19 and shortcomings with the domestic and global vaccine rollout,” said the BES report.