(Xinhua) -- Botswana Stock Exchange's (BSE) equity trading has fallen slightly in the second and third quarters compared to the first quarter of this year.
Statistics released from the local bourse Friday indicate that on quarterly basis, the first quarter of 2020 experienced the highest turnover of 185.0 million Pula (about 16.16 million U.S. dollars) over 81.7 million traded shares, followed by the second and third quarters with equity turnover levels of 178.7 million Pula and 173.3 million Pula respectively.
Meanwhile, equity market performance analysis showed that during the period from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, the domestic company index depreciated by 6.7 percent in comparison to a decline of 5.0 percent during the same period in 2019, while the DCI total return index depreciated by 2.5 percent in comparison to a decline of 2.6 percent in the same period in 2019.
"The foreign company index depreciated by 1.0 percent on a year to date basis in 2020 compared to a decline of 0.4 percent over the same period in 2019," said BSE Chief Executive Officer Thapelo Tsheolo.
Meanwhile, BSE has asked companies to utilize the bourse post COVID-19 to stay in operation and ramp up, as the impact of the pandemic dissolves. Tsheole has highlighted that companies can raise capital and preserve cash on the balance sheet through the stock exchange.
