Bank profits near historic high

Prior to the record profits seen last year, the previous peak in banks’ after-tax profits was P2.02 billion in 2018. Bank of Botswana (BoB) figures released recently indicate that commercial banks are powering towards a fresh high this year, helped to a large extent by healthy interest margins.

The banks’ net interest income in the first nine months of the year reached P4.5 billion, compared to P3.6 billion over the same period last year, reflecting the warming credit appetite amongst consumers and higher interest rates.