expected to further support growth in economic activity and employment creation. the crawling band exchange rate policy framework has served the country well and will continue to complement monetary policy. this bodes well for maintenance of international competitiveness of domestic industries and macroeconomic stability. as announced at the beginning of the year and broadly consistent with botswana ’ s trade pattern, the weights of the constituent currencies in the pula basket were maintained at 45 percent for the south african rand and 55 percent for the sdr. an annual upward rate of crawl of 0. 3 percent of the nominal effective exchange rate is also being implemented in 2019, in order to stabilise the real effective exchange rate. overall, both external and domestic pressures on inflation are expected to be benign, and it is projected that inflation will remain within the 3 – 6 percent objective range in the short to medium term. this forecast incorporates the estimated impact of the increase in public service salaries and prospects for continued accommodative monetary conditions. having said that, it is worth underscoring the point that any upward adjustment in administered prices and government levies and / or taxes and any increase in international commodity prices that is substantially beyond current projections present upside risks to the inflation outlook. in contrast, downside risks to inflation arise from the restrained growth in global economic activity, the tendency of the ongoing technological progress to lower costs and the reduction in commodity prices. monetary policy stance distinguished guests, based on available data, the current projections suggest that domestic inflation will, in the mediumterm, remain within the bank ’ s objective range of 3 – 6 percent. this favourable medium - term outlook for inflation is in the context of moderate growth in economic activity and a sound and stable financial system. therefore, prospective developments augur well for maintenance of an accommodative monetary policy that supports productive lending to businesses and to households, for welfare enhancements that also drive economic activity. the bank ’ s implementation of monetary policy will continue to focus on entrenching expectations of low, predictable and sustainable inflation, through timely responses to price developments ; while at the same time, taking due care to ensure that policy decisions are consistent with ensuring financial stability and supportive of sustainable economic growth and employment creation. conclusion honourable minister and distinguished guests, as i conclude, it is important to note that the continuing success in containing inflation within the desired 3 – 6 percent medium - term inflation objective, to which the bank remains fully committed, must in the end, involve the cooperation

bank of botswana botswana stock exchange opening bell ceremony commemoration of the acquisition of african banking corporation of botswana limited by access bank plc remarks by moses d pelaelo governor october 7, 2021 director of ceremonies, i am delighted to join the honourable minister in acknowledging today ’ s two - themed momentous occasion of, one, continuing the tradition of monthly recognition and promotion of capital market activity through the symbolic ringing of the bell to mark the start of share trading, and, two, the coming into the botswana banking sector and market of access bank plc, through the acquisition of the majority shareholding in african banking corporation of botswana limited ( bancabc ). i will, therefore, complement the honourable minister ’ s insightful observations by projecting a central bank and regulatory perspective on some key aspects. distinguished guests, while the bank of botswana has clear mandates as enshrined in section 4 of the bank of botswana act, i will, for the purposes of today ’ s event, distill and project three aspects deriving from those mandates. these are the interrelated roles relating to sectoral regulation and supervision ; promoting financial sector development and inclusion ; and safeguarding financial stability. regulation and supervision of the banking sector first, it is important to appreciate that the coming into the market by a new entity, especially an internationally - active banking group, such as access bank plc, requires careful and extensive evaluation that involves several elements. these include evaluation of the ownership and governance structures and scale of operations ; financial strength and performance ; strategic intent, market, and developmental impact ; business conduct, reputation, and integrity issues ; as reflected in performance and strategic direction. context, the “ supervisory risk - perimeter ” in this takes a consolidated view of the banking group, not only to identify sources of strength, but also likely sources of adverse impact on financial condition, reputation and overall safety and soundness of the financial system. moreover, this evaluation also entails consultations, confirmations, and validations with the home supervisor, in this case, the central bank of nigeria, through which we also make a judgement on effectiveness of supervision ( of a large pan - african bank with multi - jurisdictional presence ) and prospects for continuing supervisory collaboration, as well as jurisdictional facilitation of support to the foreign subsidiary. honourable minister, and distinguished guests, i can confirm that in all these aspects the assessment was positive, leading to the bank of botswana board concluding that access bank plc met the licensing and prudential requirements