The Bank of Botswana reported that Governor Cornelius K. Dekop and a delegation of senior staff attended the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings in Washington DC from 21 to 26 April 2025. Dekop attended in his capacity as Botswana’s representative on the IMF’s Non-Executive Board and as chair of the newly established IMF Africa Group 1 Constituency, which comprises all Southern African Development Community countries except the Democratic Republic of Congo and Seychelles. In addition to chairing Africa Group 1 constituency and panel meetings, the Governor participated in the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Africa Consultative Group meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, where he led discussions under the sub-theme “Trade Integration for Stronger and More Resilient Economic Growth and Diversification”. The release highlighted the IMF’s April 2025 World Economic Outlook projections of slower global growth at 2.8 percent in 2025 and 3.0 percent in 2026, alongside moderating growth in emerging markets and developing economies (3.7 percent in 2025 and 3.9 percent in 2026) and in Sub-Saharan Africa (3.8 percent in 2025 and 4.2 percent in 2026). It also cited IMF inflation projections and risks, and noted policy discussions emphasising price stability, monitoring financial vulnerabilities, improving debt sustainability, and regional integration. On IMF governance and oversight, the IMFC highlighted work on the 16th General Review of Quotas and asked the Executive Board to develop principles for future quota and governance discussions by the 2026 Spring Meetings, alongside planned reviews spanning surveillance, Financial Sector Assessment Programs, and elements of IMF lending toolkit and programme design. Separately, bilateral discussions with IMF departments covered cooperation and technical assistance for Botswana, including macroeconomic modelling and forecasting, macroprudential stress testing, balance of payments and monetary statistics, payments and settlement systems, banking regulatory standards, and financial-sector legal reforms, with the next IMF meetings scheduled for October 2025.
Bank of Botswana 2025-05-02
Bank of Botswana Governor attends IMF Spring Meetings as chair of new Africa Group 1 constituency
Governor Cornelius K. Dekop of the Bank of Botswana attended the IMF Spring Meetings, chairing the Africa Group 1 Constituency and leading discussions on trade integration for economic growth. The IMF's World Economic Outlook projects slower global growth and emphasizes policy discussions on price stability and debt sustainability. Bilateral talks focused on cooperation and technical assistance for Botswana, covering macroeconomic modeling, stress testing, and regulatory standards.