Minister of Finance Honorable Moeketsi Majoro is confident of securing a financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other development partners to reduce the budget deficit and boost its foreign currency reserves.

Dr Majoro also reassured the public that despite the harsh economic environment, the government will still be able to pay salaries and fund its activities for the entire 2018/2019 financial year.

The government and the IMF have been in discussions over the bailout package since last month and Dr Majoro expressed confidence that an agreement would be reached by the end of next month.

The government-IMF negotiations are being held at a time when the country’s increasingly restive workforce has either struck or threatened to strike to force the government and other employers to award them salary increments that will cushion them against the increases in the prices of goods and services.

Earlier this year, Dr Majoro announced a four percent salary increase for civil servants but the latter are far from content and tlast week, teachers announced that they would stage a countrywide strike from 2 August to 2 September to force the government to award them another wage increment.