(Xinhua) -- Bank of Botswana (BoB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to maintain the bank rate at 5 percent, the governor of Botswana's central bank, Moses Pelaelo, said Tuesday.
Addressing a panel of journalists following an MPC meeting held in Gaborone, the country's capital, Pelaelo said the outlook for price stability remains positive as inflation is forecast to be within the 3-6 percent objective range in the medium term.
"Inflation decreased marginally from 3.4 percent in April to 3.3 percent in May 2018, and was within the objective range," said Pelaelo.
According to Pelaelo, subdued domestic demand pressures and the modest increase in foreign prices contribute to the positive inflation outlook in the medium term.
"This outlook is subject to upside risks emanating from the potential rise in administered prices, commodity prices and government levies and taxes beyond current forecasts," he said.
However, Pelaelo cautioned that restrained global economic activity, technological progress and productivity improvement present downside risks to the outlook.
Meanwhile, Botswana's current state of the economy and the outlook for both domestic and external economic activity suggest that the prevailing monetary policy stance is consistent with maintaining inflation within the objective range in the medium term.
