Gov’t reserves bounce back on diamond revenues

The reserves, managed by the Bank of Botswana (BoB), dropped to a record low of P3.3 billion in December 2020 due to withdrawals by treasury to finance the pandemic response. The reserves were measured at P18.3 billion in April 2020 when the virus was first confirmed in the country and have remained below that level since then.

Appearing before recent Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, Finance Ministry permanent secretary, Wilfred Mandlebe said the rebound in diamond exports last year had helped the reserves to their strongest position in two years.