This Background Paper and Statistical Appendix describes economic and financial developments in Botswana during 1993–94. Although real GDP in Botswana recovered somewhat to 2.5 percent in 1993/94, compared with a decline of 1.5 percent in 1992/93, this outcome represented a decline in real GDP per capita for the second consecutive year. The government sector continued to expand relatively fast as the civil service continued to grow fairly rapidly, leading to an increasing share in the nonmining GDP, which rose from 34.8 percent in 1992/93 to 36.1 percent in 1993/94.

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix on Botswana underlies that diamond reserves are not adequate to generate enough permanent revenue to support the current level of expenditure. Despite strong overall growth, in Botswana, a pattern of dependence on diamond revenue and high unemployment persists. Botswana, as a typical small open economy, is closely linked to a large neighboring economy. This linkage means Botswana's monetary and exchange policies must consider the external economic environment, particularly the pula's exchange rate against the rand.