Botswana’s Annual Inflation Drops Slightly in October

By Xinhua 

November 19, 2023

Botswana’s October annual inflation registered a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from 3.2 percent recorded in September 2023, the country’s data authority released on Wednesday.

Statistics Botswana (SB) said the major contributors to the annual inflation rate of 3.1 percent in October 2023 were attributed to movements in food and non-alcoholic beverages, miscellaneous goods and services.

“The group indices were generally moving at a stable pace between September and October 2023, recording changes of less than 1.0 percent,” said statistician general Burton Mguni.

Last year, Botswana’s average inflation recorded was 12.2 percent, attributed to external factors such as the increase in international oil prices and supply chain disruptions experienced during the first half of the year.

In response, the Bank of Botswana (BoB) raised the monetary policy rate and has maintained it at 2.65 percent since August 2022.