Headline inflation decreased from 14.6 percent in August to 13.8 percent in September 2022, remaining above the Bank’s medium-term objective range of 3 – 6 percent, and significantly higher than the 8.4 percent in September 2021. According to Statistics Botswana, the fall in inflation between August and September 2022 mainly reflects the impact of the downward adjustment of domestic fuel prices effected on September 11, 2022, and the decrease in the annual price changes of some categories of goods and services, notably the ‘Education’ category (from 2.6 to 1.6 percent). Meanwhile, there were partially offsetting movements in the annual price change for other categories of goods and services. Inflation fell with respect to: Transport (from 39.8 to 36.2 percent); Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (from 4.1 to 3.5 percent); Recreation and Culture (from 4.9 to 4.4 percent); Miscellaneous Goods and Services (from 9.8 to 9.4 percent); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (from 6 to 5.6 percent); and Restaurants and Hotels (from 5.7 to 5.5 percent). The downward pressure on inflation was partly offset by inflation increasing with respect to: Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages (from 13.2 to 14.8 percent); Clothing and Footwear (from 4.4 to 4.7 percent); and Communication (from 1.6 to 1.7 percent). Inflation remained unchanged for: Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance (5.7 percent) and Health (2.8 percent).
Similarly, the 16 percent trimmed mean inflation decreased from 11.8 percent to 11.4 percent, while inflation excluding administered prices remained constant at 8 percent in the same period.