Botswana slashes bank rates to 5%

24 Octobre 2017

Gaborone, Botswana, October 24 (Infosplusgabon) -  Botswana’s central bank has cut the national lending bank rate to 5 percent.  The Bank of Botswana on Tuesday said reducing the bank rate from 5.5 percent to 5 percent has been influenced by the outlook for price stability which remains positive, as inflation is forecast to be within the 3 – 6 percent objective range in the medium term.

“The current state of the economy, both the domestic and external economic outlook as well as the inflation forecast, provides scope for easing monetary policy to support economic activity without undermining maintenance of inflation within the Bank’s medium-term objective range of 3 – 6 percent,” the central bank monetary policy committee said.

The reserve bank has challenged commercial banks to make the necessary interest rate adjustments with immediate effect to reflect this policy decision.

Recent Statistics Botswana’s reports indicate that inflation decreased from 3.4 percent in August to 3.2 percent in September 2017.

Meanwhile, Botswana’s GDP grew by 3.1 percent in the twelve months to June 2017 compared to a contraction of 0.7 percent in the corresponding period ending in June 2016.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/UYH/GABON 2017

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