Developments in central government budgeting in Botswana

Botswana's budgeting system has historically grown from the position of dependence on British government grants to one of self-reliance. The historical transformation was made possible by stringent financial management on the expenditure side and the discovery of some of the world's richest diamond fields. A series of budgetary surpluses gave testimony to the transformation to self-reliance. The budgetary system is however, constrained by the dominance of exhaustible mineral resources on the economy. This constraint has led to a comprehensive, policy-based approach to budgeting developed over a historical period which is the subject of this paper.