Botswana’s economy is facing potential disruption amid escalating tensions between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The recent conflict has triggered flight suspensions and delayed diamond sales tenders scheduled for early March 2026 in Dubai, a critical hub for Botswana’s diamond exports. The territorial dispute near the Strait of Hormuz intensified in late February 2026, culminating in airstrikes against the UAE. Given that the UAE ranks among Botswana’s top export markets, this conflict is...

The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), a government-owned market regulator, is projecting strong performance for 2026, buoyed by initiatives aimed at expanding investor participation in domestic capital markets. Building on a solid foundation laid in 2025 and robust early-year results, the BSE anticipates maintaining positive momentum. Over the course of 2025, from January 1 to December 31, the exchange reported a total market turnover of P9.3 billion across all listed instruments, an 18.1 percent increase year-over-year...

Global research firm Business Monitor International (BMI) has recently downgraded Botswana’s projected economic growth for 2026, citing ongoing risks and challenges confronting the nation’s economy. Following a 3.8 percent expansion in 2023, Botswana’s economy contracted by 3 percent in 2024. The primary drag on economic activity was subdued output in the mining and quarrying sector. Weak global demand for diamonds compelled Botswana’s miners to curtail production to avoid accumulating unprofitable inventory. This extended and deeper-than-anticipated...

Botswana’s annual inflation rate edged up to 4.1 percent in January 2026, marking a 0.2 percentage point rise from the 3.9 percent recorded in December 2025. The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released this week attributes this uptick primarily to increasing costs in transport, food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as personal care services and miscellaneous goods. The transport sector emerged as the dominant driver of inflation in January, contributing 1.6 percentage points to...

In a recent report released this week, local research firm Econsult cautioned that the government’s anticipated increase in borrowing from commercial banks and pension funds to finance budget deficits could exacerbate liquidity pressures within the financial sector and further constrain credit availability to the private sector. The 2025/2026 fiscal year is projected to record a budget deficit of P9.2 billion, equivalent to 3.3 percent of GDP. For the 2026/2027 fiscal year, the deficit is forecasted...

The Botswana government has been urged to ground its final 2026/2027 budget in realistic projections of revenues, expenditures, and deficits. Keith Jefferis, a Botswana-based economist and Managing Director of Econsult, issued this counsel earlier this week, just days ahead of the 2026/2027 budget speech scheduled for Monday, February 9, 2026. While acknowledging the inherent challenges of forecasting the upcoming budget, Jefferis emphasized the critical need for Finance Minister Ndaba Gaolathe to present a fiscal plan...

   Botswana is poised to see a substantial expansion in its foreign exchange reserves this year, following the government’s strategic refinement of its exchange rate policy, a move that delivered encouraging results in 2025. Last year, the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Botswana recalibrated the Pula’s currency basket weights, adjusting them to an equal split of 50 percent each between the South African rand and the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR). This marked...

  Botswana’s government is poised to implement additional austerity measures in the 2026/2027 financial year, commencing on April 1, 2026. These measures are designed to reallocate government expenditure away from consumption and toward investment, thereby enhancing public financial management and supporting sustainable economic growth.   During the first half of the 2025/2026 financial year, ending in March 2026, Botswana recorded a significantly reduced budget deficit, reflecting the positive impact of austerity policies focused on curbing...

A recent survey conducted by the Bank of Botswana (BoB) reveals a significant and concerning decline in business confidence among companies operating within Botswana during the fourth quarter of 2025. This downward shift in sentiment is primarily attributed to an increasingly fragile economic environment and a noticeable reduction in government expenditure, factors that collectively weigh heavily on the outlook for domestic commerce and investment. The quarterly Business Expectations Survey (BES), a key indicator that gathers...

New trade figures released this week reveal that Botswana has spent a staggering P9.2 billion on food imports from January through August 2025. This surge follows ongoing struggles within the country’s agricultural sector, which continues to underdeliver. Throughout the first eight months of this year, Botswana’s local food production – encompassing farms and food processing industries, has shown little sign of improvement. The data reveals that the country’s cereal imports alone amounted to P1.6 billion,...