The government has issued a new sweeping savingram tightening austerity across all MDAs, suspending non-essential travel, freezing overtime and government purchase orders, and imposing strict budget controls
GAZETTE REPORTER
The government has reportedly issued a sweeping new savingram extending and tightening austerity measures across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), signaling that Botswana’s financial troubles may be deeper than previously acknowledged.
The memo, titled “Extension of the Moratorium on Travel, Overtime Working and Generation of Government Purchase Orders (GPOs),” builds on earlier directives under Presidential Directive CAB19A/2025 issued on 10 July 2025. Previous measures had already mandated a 50 percent cut in travel budgets by December 2025 and progressive quarterly reductions of overtime expenditure to 10 percent of basic salary.
STRICTER CONTROLS IMPLEMENTED IMMEDIATELY
According to sources, the new savingram enforces even stricter controls with no room for deviation. Effective immediately, all government travel is suspended except for essential missions, delegations are to be kept minimal, and ministries are instructed to rely on virtual platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams for regional and international engagements.
The memo further imposes a hard freeze on requests for supplementary budgets or virements. The Ministry of Finance will only approve additional funding under “exceptional circumstances,” and even fully sponsored travel or workshops will only be cleared if they impose zero cost on government coffers.
OVERTIME CAPPED AND TIGHTLY MONITORED
Overtime payments, long a strain on departmental budgets, are now under intense scrutiny. MDAs must enforce tighter supervision, negotiate time-off in lieu of pay, and ensure quarterly reductions continue until overtime spending reaches the 10-percent target by year-end. Non-compliance may trigger further restrictions.
GOVERNMENT PURCHASE ORDERS FROZEN
In one of the more drastic measures, the generation of online Government Purchase Orders (GPOs) via the Government Accounting and Budgeting System (GABS) has been frozen. Manual GPOs will not be accepted, and access rights to GABS are being centralized under the Office of the Accountant General to prevent unauthorized spending.
The savingram instructs all ministries to implement the directives “without delay” and notes that additional cost-containment strategies are being prepared for Cabinet consideration. Observers say the aggressive measures confirm a serious budgetary squeeze, raising concerns about service delivery and operational efficiency in the coming months.