Within the National Statistical System (NSS), the Bank of Botswana has responsibility for compiling and disseminating balance of payments (including the international investment position (IIP)) and monetary and financial statistics.
The provision of monetary and financial statistics supports the principal statutory objective of the Bank of Botswana as set out in the Bank of Botswana Act, 1996 (Cap 55:01, section 4) which is to promote and maintain financial stability and an efficient payments system. Both the collection of necessary information and the publication of relevant statistics are given legal backing under the Banking Act, 1995 (Cap 46:04, sections 20 and 48).
The balance of payments and IIP are the responsibility of the Bank of Botswana by agreement between the Bank and the Botswana Government. The Bank collects the data from various sources, including both Government and private sector, under section 71 of the Bank of Botswana Act which entitles the bank to collect information necessary for performing its duties.
In all cases, published statistics must be consistent with legal requirements regarding confidentiality. In particular, publication must be in a format that does not allow the identity of any entity to be disclosed without prior permission. Moreover, under section 19 of the Bank of Botswana Act, Bank staff are committed not to disclose information relating to the affairs of any entity acquired through their work.
Dissemination is principally through a monthly publication, the Botswana Financial Statistics (BFS) which is available both on this website in spreadsheet format and in hard copy, for which subscription is free within Botswana. The publication disseminates both balance of payments and monetary and financial statistics, as well as real sector and government finance statistics, compiled by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) within legal frameworks of the Statistics Act, 1967 (Cap 17.01) and Finance and Audit Act, 1970 (Cap 54.01), respectively.
The overall objective is to promote good governance in statistics which entails transparency and accountability and, hence, lead to well-guided policy formulation. To this end, beyond its legal mandate, the Bank is fully committed to maintaining best practices and ethical practices regarding both transparency of its processes for collection, compilation and dissemination, as well as confidentiality. The guidelines for survey participants on this website provides additional information for those who may have been asked to participate in statistical surveys undertaken by the Bank of Botswana. In addition, the Bank is committed to sensitize further both users of its statistics and those who supply information required for compilation.