Botswana to Invest Diamond Wealth More Widely
- Holds 70% of diamond producer’s $6.8 billion foreign reserves
- Pula fund allowed to invest in 17 currencies, more equities
A pedestrian walks down the street as under-constructions buildings stand beyond in the central business district of Gaborone, Botswana.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Botswana’s central bank has given its sovereign wealth fund a broader mandate to help ensure the southern African nation isn’t denying itself attractive investment returns.
The Pula fund, which holds about 70% of Botswana’s $6.8 billion in foreign reserves, used to be confined to investing in dollars, pounds, yen and euros. New guidelines have increased the number of eligible currencies to 17 and, while the fund is largely adding fixed-income assets, it is also buying some stocks, said the central bank’s head of financial markets, Matthew Wright.