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GOVT WANTS CONTROL OVER ECONOMIC GROWTH- DR MATLANYANE

The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr Retšelisistsoe Matlanyane says the Government of Lesotho has contributed more to its budget in order to take control of its economic growth.

The Minister said this when wrapping up the debate over the motion for Members to give general approval to the financial proposals contained in the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023 to 2024.

She said in the past the budget was supported by international donors but this time the donors did not contribute much due to the poor performance of the country.

“This poor performance has led to donors being reluctant to assist Lesotho since they did not see any developmental activities,’’ she highlighted.

Dr Matlanyane said the Government of Lesotho has also increased its recurrent spending due to many factors such as increasing the budget for the availability of drugs in national hospitals and clinics and to trying to enable the private sector to operate in a conducive environment to boost economic growth.

Furthermore, the Minister stated that the electronic passports and National Identity documents (IDs) which were first introduced in 2013 will be expiring this year and that many people will be applying for the new ones.

‘’The budget has catered for this to happen hence the recurrent spending has increased by 13 percent this year’’ she explained.

Dr Matlanyane said the textile industry and construction used to contribute 20 to 30 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but that this is no longer the case.

She noted that COVID-19 as well as the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia have brought on new challenges in the entire world and that Lesotho is affected.

The Minister stated that the new government had to rely on the National Strategic Development Plan II since time was not enough for the government to come up with a new strategic plan.

She highlighted that the budget aims to rely on the tourism sector, agriculture and mining sector for economic growth.

Dr Matlanyane said the government has allocated the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition over one billion Maloti in order to increase food security for the country to be self-reliant in crop production.

She, however, appealed to the country not to rely anymore on the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) revenue collection which she said was not reliable.

She noted that this year SACU revenue has doubled but that it is controlled by South Africa based on the figures it gained from imports into member countries.

This motion shows the new government’s financial policy as to what direction it intends to take in this new financial year aimed at economic growth and job creation among others.

 

Source: LENA 21/03/2023

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