Record diamond sales registered for first quarter

 Figures released by the Bank of Botswana (BoB) show that in the first three months of the year, diamond exports stood at $1.019 billion, the highest value ever in the first quarter.

The exceptional level of exports, which includes rough and polished diamonds, gained 34 percent over the first quarter of last year and is 0.2 percent above exports in the first quarter of 2008. BoB figures show that the only other quarterly exports that suppress the latest figures are those made in the second quarter of 2008, which stood at $1.056 billion, just before the full effects of the global economic crisis hit the market. In the month of March, the country exported $462.5 million worth of polished diamonds, a 50.7 percent year-over-year increase in exports.