Gaborone — The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development says President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has approved a recommendation to maintain the Pula basket weights at 45 per cent South African rand and 55 per cent Special Drawing Rights (SDR) and continue to implement a downward rate of crawl of 2.87 per cent in 2021.

According to a media release from the ministry, the rate of crawl reflects the inflation differential between Botswana and its trading partner countries.

Moreover, it also says the rebate of crawl reflects the need to contribute to the easing of real monetary conditions, while supporting domestic industry competitiveness, in the absence of significant inflationary pressures in the economy.

"Notwithstanding, this is in line with the overall objective of the country's exchange rate policy of achieving competitiveness of domestic goods and services," the release says.

The media release further states that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, in conjunction with the Bank of Botswana, regularly reviews the Pula Exchange Rate Policy Framework parameters with the objective of maintaining a stable and competitive real effective exchange rate of the Pula.

Furthermore, it says the parameters consist of a basket of currencies, comprising the Rand and the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) SDR, in a forward-looking crawling band framework. BOPA

Source : BOPA