According to Statistics Botswana, headline inflation declined from 9.3 percent in January to 9.1 percent in February 2023, but remained above the Bank’s medium-term objective range of 3 – 6 percent and was lower than the 10.6 percent in February 2022. The decrease in inflation between January and February 2023 reflects the fall in the rate of annual price change for the ‘Transport’ category (from 15.4 to 14.3 percent), due to the decrease in prices for purchasing vehicles as the Pula gained strength against the South African rand. Meanwhile, there were partially offsetting movements in the annual price change for other categories of goods and services. Inflation fell with respect to: Recreation and Culture (from 3.5 to 3.3 percent); Miscellaneous Goods and Services (from 8.7 to 8.5 percent); Communication (from 2.7 to 2.6 percent); and Education (from 5.5 to 5.4 percent). The downward pressure on inflation was partly offset by inflation increasing with respect to: Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (from 2.4 to 2.8 percent); Clothing and Footwear (from 5.3 to 5.6 percent); Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (from 17.2 to 17.3 percent); and Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance (from 6.2 to 6.3 percent). Inflation remained unchanged for: Restaurants and Hotels (6 percent); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (4.6 percent); and Health (3.3 percent).
Similarly, the 16 percent trimmed mean inflation and inflation excluding administered prices decreased from 8.5 percent and 9.1 percent to 8.2 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively, in the same period.