The budget deficits in 2008 and 2009, coupled with the fast draw downs of funds from the trust accounts, resulted in the balances declining to below K1 billion in August 2010. To those of us dealing with the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) there was an opportunity to commence it during the recent mineral boom.
Establishing a SWF to manage large windfall revenues from high commodity prices is talked about for some years. The decision to park the surplus revenue in trust accounts was not a good solution. I have no doubt that a SWF would have managed the surpluses in a much better way.