Pension funds tick up to P149bn
Mbongeni Mguni | Wednesday July 9, 2025 11:27
At their prior level in March, the pension fund assets were at their softest position in 11 months.
While the central bank is quantitative and does not report the reasons behind the movements in the values of pension fund assets, it is known that government directly accessed a P3 billion loan from the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) which was approved on March 13.
The jump to P148.7 billion in April was driven by offshore equities and local cash holdings, the latter usually a sign of insufficient opportunities for investments. The value of pension fund assets held in local equities rose to P22.5 billion in April from P22 billion in March, hinting at rising asset prices in the local market.
As at April, the pension funds were holding 44.3% of their assets domestically, ahead of the 44% target mandated by NBFIRA to be reached by December 2025.The regulator requires pension funds to reach 47% domestic investment by December 2026 and achieve full compliance of a minimum of 50% by December 2027.