KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY HON. MATAMBO AT THE SHAREHOLDER COMPACT SIGNING 

Welcome-remarks-SADC-summit-August-2015

PRESS STATEMENT

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Ministry of Finance and Development Planning Produces 2015 Budget Speech in Braille

The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has for the second time since 2014 printed a summary of the 2015 Budget Speech in braille both in Setswana and in English.

This is an effort to make the Budget Speech accessible and available to all members of our society.

In 2014, the Ministry printed 25 copies of the Annual Budget Speech in braille in English version and 25 copies in Setswana. This year, the Ministry increased the numbers and printed 50 copies of each.

The Ministry is committed to this endeavour and will print more copies of the Speech in braille in the coming years if resources permit.

This is in line with our Vision 2016 Pillars of an “Informed and Educated Nation” and to be a “Nation that is Compassionate, Just and Caring”.

Just like other members of the society, the visually impaired have the right to be informed and educated on how the national budget is allocated, and more importantly how it will address their needs, challenges and aspirations.

To reach out to people with visual impairment, the Ministry collaborates very closely with the Coordinating Office for People with Disabilities (PWDs) at the Office of the President (OP) which distributed copies of the 2014 Braille version of the Budget Speech to various tertiary institution, and National libraries.

These included University of Botswana, Limkongkwing University, Botho University, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, ABM University College, Gaborone Institute of Professional Studies, National libraries in main villages and towns, Botswana Council for the Disabled as the mother body for organizations dealing with PWDs and other NGOs offering services to people with visual impairment. The same channels will be used to distribute the 2015 copies of the Budget Speech in Braille by the Coordinating Office for People with Disabilities at the Office of the President.

The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is mandated with the responsibility to coordinate National Development Planning, as well as mobilising and prudently managing available financial and economic resources. Furthermore, the Ministry is responsible for formulation of economic and financial policies for sustainable economic development, as well as preparation of annual Budget Speeches.

The Budget Speech is an essential activity of national importance as it informs the nation on allocation of the national resources in the form of recurrent as well as development budgets for implementation of projects and programmes. In this connection, the Ministry considers it very important that all segments of our society be informed about the budgeting processes and how available resources are distributed. For this reason, the Ministry uses various communication modes to ensure that all members of our Society have access to the annual Budget Speech. This include live reading of the Budget Speech on national television with sign language interpretation as well as live broadcast on local radio stations during its delivery at the National Assembly. Further, the Ministry produces a simplified version of the Speech in English and Setswana called ‘The People’s Guide to the Budget’ for ease of understanding and the ‘Budget in Brief’ which have graphs and tables to cater for hard-core professionals and international audience.

All budget documents mentioned above are available in the Ministry website www.finance.gov.bw

for/Permanent Secretary

Ministry of Finance and Development Planning

For more information contact:

Public Relations Office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel: 3950347,3950396, and 3633645

PRESS RELEASE

2015 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND AND WORLD BANK GROUP SPRING MEETINGS

1.  The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Honourable Ontefetse Kenneth Matambo, will leave Gaborone on the 14^th April 2015 to attend the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group Spring meetings. The meetings will take place in Washington DC, USA from the 17^th to the 19^th April 2015. The Honourable Minister will be accompanied by Senior Government Officials in the Ministry.

2.  The meetings will discuss the global economic outlook, IMF and World Bank supported programmes as well as financial resources required to promote economic development in developing countries. The Honourable Minister will also attend the Africa Group I Constituency meeting which will discuss developments in the Constituency and other updates pertaining to the reforms taking place at the World Bank.  In addition, the Honourable Minister will attend the Development Committee and the International Monetary and Financial Committee Meetings to discuss progress on the work of the Bank and the Fund, and matters of common concern affecting the global economy.

3.  The Honourable Minister and his delegation are expected back on the 21^st April 2015.

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Solomon M. Sekwakwa

PERMANENT SECRETARY