04 Jan 2018

President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama has approved the recommendation by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Kenneth Matambo to maintain the Pula basket weight at 45 per cent of the South African Rand and 55 per cent to the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) of 2018.

A press release from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development says a downward rate of crawl of 0.30 per cent per annum was adopted and that the changes are effective 1st January, 2018. It says the rate crawl was adopted taking into account the expected inflation differentials between Botswana and its trading partner countries. It says the ministry, in

conjunction with Bank of Botswana, regularly reviews the Pula basket with a view to maintaining a stable and competitive real effective exchange rate.

The Pula basket, it says, comprises of the South African Rand and the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) consisting of the US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Chinese Renminbi, Euro and the British Pound.

During 2017, the weights of the basket were maintained at 45 per cent of the South African Rand and 55 per cent of the SDR, reflecting the trading patterns of Botswana with its major trading partner countries.“An upward rate of crawl of 0.26 per cent per annum was also implemented during 2017 based on the differential between Botswana’s inflation rate and that of its trading partner countries,” says the release. ENDS