Gaolathe defends govt tough economic measures

Vice President and Alliance for Progressives (AP) party leader, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe has assured Batswana that government decisions are guided by the welfare of citizens, saying no policy is taken with the intent to disadvantage the people.‎ ‎Speaking at the AP leadership retreat in Palapye on July 18, Mr Gaolathe said every decision made by government was weighed against its benefit to the country. ‎“We are not saying that mistakes cannot happen, but had we not taken some of the decisions, our currency would have lost its value and our economy would have collapsed,” he said. ‎The Vice President warned that failure to act on declining foreign reserves would have had dire consequences.

‎He noted there were projections that by June 2026 reserves could fall to zero, if no action was taken. ‎“If the government allowed the foreign reserves to drop day by day, the currency would also have lost value,” he said. ‎He told party leaders that current foreign reserves stood at around P50 billion, and that the pula remained stable as a result of interventions made.

‎“Right now, as we speak, the foreign reserves stand at around P50 billion, and the currency is still holding up,” Mr. Gaolathe said. ‎He acknowledged the difficulty of some measures, but stressed that government acted in good faith.

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‎“Though it is difficult, I assure Batswana that there is nothing that the government can do to intentionally disadvantage them and there is nothing they do for selfish reasons. Every decision we take, we do so with Batswana in our hearts,” he said. ‎Regarding the 14 per cent in health tax, a move that had drawn criticism, Mr Gaolathe said the increase was necessary and would ultimately benefit the country.

‎“There is nothing that can make the government forget Batswana. Everything we do, we do to uplift and fix our country so that it does not collapse,” he said.

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