Killing us softly, together :: Mmegi Online

Much has been said about the level of household indebtedness in Botswana, particularly the fact that much of it is driven by general low financial literacy and an engrained culture of consumerism.

Appeals have been made to the financial sector regulators, chiefly the Bank of Botswana (BoB) and the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA), to intervene and either act to enforce greater transparency protocols by lenders or provide statutory debt relief avenues for those most distressed. Unfortunately, to date, interventions by both institutions have been perfunctory at best, misdirected at most and dismissive at worst.

The central bank has made it clear repeatedly that their interest in overall household debt is limited to the extent that this problem affects systemic banking sector stability, while NBFIRA appears content with a requirement it made to lenders to include a warning clause in their advertisements on credit products.

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