Botswana's economy slides in first quarter

Botswana's economy contracted 2.2 percent in the first quarter, compared to the previous three months, due to a drop in mining output, the Central Statistics Office said Monday. Compared to the first quarter of 2010, the economy still grew by 6.4 percent, it added. Mining, which accounts for 30 percent of Botswana's gross domestic product, contracted 4.2 percent quarter-on-quarter. The second quarter could also be weak, after a strike by civil servants hobbled the country for eight weeks. Botswana's economy grew 7.2 percent last year, after shrinking 4.9 percent in 2009 as the global financial crisis and slump undercut demand for its exports. The African Development Bank predicts growth of 6.9 percent this year.