Growth To Plunge By 9.9%

Having been early to suggest that Botswana would tip into recession in 2009, we are downgrading further our real GDP forecast for 2008/09. Ongoing weakness in the mining sector, despite the reopening of three mines in mid-April - will continue to weigh on exports and on the government's ability to spend its way out of trouble. As such, we are now looking at a contraction of 9.9%, compared to our previous forecast of negative 2.9%.

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