Botswana - To balance the budget the govt will sell shares in the Botswana telco

[business week] Botswana, the world’s biggest diamond producer, will sell stock in its national telecommunications company in February, President Ian Khama said.

The sale of Botswana Telecommunications Corp. will be complete by April next year, Khama said today in speech to parliament in the capital, Gaborone.

“The privatization of BTC will commence with an initial public offer in which shares will be sold to citizens in stages on condition that government will have the first option at acquisition when citizen investors wish to dispose of their shares,” he said.

The southern African country is trying to boost revenue to close a budget gap of about 10 percent of gross domestic product that widened when diamond exports fell during the global economic crisis. The deficit was forecast at 12.2 billion pula ($1.9 billion), or 12.2 percent of GDP, for 2010/11 in the budget, released in February.

The fiscal gap was 9.3 billion pula in the last fiscal year, compared with a forecast of 13.4 billion pula, and is estimated at 12.1 billion pula this fiscal year, Khama said.

The government is aiming to balance its budget by 2012/13, Finance and Development Planning Minister Kenneth Matambo said on Oct. 28.

Botswana to Sell Shares in Telecommunications Company