The Central Bank of Botswana left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5 percent at its April 24th meeting. The annual inflation rate stood at 3.3 percent in March, unchanged from the previous month and close to the lower bound of the medium-term objective range (3-6 percent). Regarding growth, the economy expanded 4.5 percent in 2018 from 2.9 percent in 2017, as mining output recovered sharply helped by diamonds (7.4 percent vs -11.1 percent). Interest Rate in Botswana averaged 9.45 percent from 2006 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 15.50 percent in June of 2008 and a record low of 5 percent in October of 2017.
Interest Rate in Botswana is expected to be 5.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Interest Rate in Botswana to stand at 4.75 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Botswana Interest Rate is projected to trend around 4.75 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.