GABORONE, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Botswana's unemployment figures are swelling despite government efforts to solve the problem.
"Unemployment rate went up by 1.3 percentage points, from 23.2 percent in quarter one of 2020, to 24.5 percent in quarter four 2020," said the country's Statistician General Burton Mguni.
Mguni also noted that the youth unemployment rate went up by 1.9 percentage points over the period, from 30.5 to 32.4 percent.
Botswana's Minister of Finance and Economic Development Thapelo Matsheka said in the country's budget speech delivered Monday that unemployment is a major challenge facing the country, especially among young people.
Meanwhile, the government is still developing a National Employment Policy mooted last year to deal with unemployment, which is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2021, Matsheka said.
"The draft policy has been undergoing intense interrogation within my Ministry to assess its adequacy in promoting productive, gainful and decent employment for Batswana based on its five strategic focus areas," added Matsheka. Enditem
