At its meeting held on October3, 2013 the Bank of Botswana’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained the Bank Rate at 8 percent, the Committee noted the positive medium-term outlook that is expected to keep inflation within the Bank’s 3 – 6 percent inflation objective.
Inflation eased from 5.7 percent in July 2013 to 5.6 percent in August, attributable to a slowdown in price increases for various categories of goods and services.
GDP growth in the twelve months to June 2013 is expected to be around 5 percent, reflecting a slower increase in the non-mining output and a marginal contraction in the mining sector.
"The current state of the economy and assumptions on both the domestic and external economic outlook, as well as the inflation forecast, suggest that the current monetary policy stance is consistent with maintaining inflation within the Bank’s 3 – 6 percent objective in the medium term. Accordingly, the Monetary Policy Committee decided to maintain the Bank Rate at 8 percent.", the bank said in a statement.
