The local currency strengthened by 6.7 percent against the US dollar in 2025, whilst falling by 5.7 percent against the South African rand, figures from the Bank of Botswana (BoB) show.
The pula’s movements against both currencies has become a major debate point, after changes to the exchange rate framework last July triggered economy-wide price hikes. The changes made by the Ministry of Finance were designed to protect the declining foreign exchange reserves, in turn defending the pula’s value. The changes were also designed to enhance export competitiveness, amidst estimates that the local currency was overvalued against key trading partners.
According to the central bank’s latest figures, the pula appreciated by seven percent against the Japanese yen last year and 1.8 percent against the Chinese renminbi. However, it depreciated by 5.4 percent against the euro and 0.5 percent against the British pound. The BoB’s figures represent the mid-point of the foreign exchange market; however, as market rates show that the pula was largely flat against the dollar during the year.
According to market rates, the pula began the year at P13.96 to the dollar, reached its strongest position at P13.23 in July, and its lowest at P14.58 in August, before closing the year at P13.96.
The Finance ministry and BoB recently maintained the pula’s rate of crawl at a downward 2.76 percent for this year, whilst also continuing with the 50/50 split of rand/Special Drawing Rights currencies in the basket of currencies used to gauge the pula’s value. The decision means the pula will continue to drift between the same parameters that were set in July.
