, as well as economic analysts and civil society. this enables an understanding of the unique situation of botswana and the interaction with global and regional developments ; thus, structural evolution and trends, developmental aspirations and needs that inform policy priorities and key data trends. in turn, such exchange of information enables evaluation of prospects and policy options, going forward. third, the bank, as well as institutions such as the non - bank financial institutions regulatory authority and statistics botswana, benefit from targeted technical assistance and skills development provided by the imf from the headquarters in washington dc or through the regional technical assistance centres, such as afritac south based in mauritius, to which botswana is affiliated. this technical assistance enables improvements in areas such as legislation, macroeconomic policy frameworks and formulation, regulatory approaches, as well as structuring and governance of institutions as necessary. in addition to improving operational competencies, access to training and skills development also encompasses interaction with other practitioners globally to share experiences. distinguished guests, it is clear, therefore, that the imf facilitates access to resources that members can opt to tap into subject to evaluation and assessment of their needs. in this regard, sustained judicious and prudent management of resources and the economy, as is the case in botswana, enables a wider range of choices and options with respect to policies, prioritisation of resource allocation, as well as the timing of implementation to achieve the desired objectives. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, you will be aware that botswana desires to transit from upper middle income status to high income status, and globally this transition is judged to be challenging, as it requires substantial structural transformation and shifts in growth strategies and policies. for botswana, it is estimated that this requires annual gdp growth rates of 8 percent over a six year period to leap from the current per capita income of just under usd8 000 per annum to above usd12 000. as a country, in the recent years, we noted challenges of slower growth rates compared to when we graduated from low - income status, slower than desired rate of economic diversification, as well as relatively high level of unemployment. in this respect, it is expected that, going forward, our relationship with the imf will focus on drawing on their expertise and sharing of experience of other countries to support transformation policies and strategies to enable botswana to fulfil its aspirations for a high - income status on a sustainable basis. distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, i thank you for your kind attention.

can never make sure of hiring or promoting the right person, and therefore one should plan on an easy change of personnel to get the best results. let me make a controversial statement on the platforms of the various political parties in terms of spending more and taxing less. we routinely run the general equilibrium model and the inflation targeting model as well as market implied models or mime, a technical word that is used for trying to find things out from people ’ s normal actions that could be captured in a data system. we also, of course, do single equation estimates as well as pure intuition from graphs and tables and such things. our staff is generally of the opinion that increased expenditure and tax reduction of moderate amounts will not destabilise the economy. this is predominantly because the economy is still very docile with a capacity utilisation stable for quite a while now at 58 %. cost push inflation from the exchange rate and the oil prices are now substantially absorbed or have been passed on, so cost push also is not presently much of a factor. the important thing though is how to make expenditure useful and constructive in the long run without too much leakage. the important thing is how to make tax cuts reasonable and directed towards the areas where people benefiting from the cuts could utilise it for a spate of new investment. if this were to happen the debt to gdp ratio might not increase significantly due to the resulting increase in gdp over the long term. with abundant liquidity and low interest rates, this is not just a time for a general tax cut for its own sake, but a program must be designed for it to be directed to where investment could best be made. in a way, this is not as easy as it seems, because generally we have been over investing and have great overcapacity. but it ’ s also not as hard as it might look. there are only a few areas that are really doing well, and benefits from the cuts could be directed there. the problem is how to make it fairly just, so that not only the good players that are already there benefit, but new players should be brought in to these all important areas. ladies and gentlemen, i have been giving you some of my thoughts on the economy. thoughts that are spotty and veer obviously somewhat to the financial aspects. the new government must be much more comprehensive. but since this is not a party platform but only some comments to make more apparent the effect of what might happen in