MASERU — The Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) and Nedbank Lesotho will host a postbudget dinner for the business community next Friday.
Finance Minister Timothy Thahane will present the budget for the 2010/2011 financial year in parliament next Friday.
Nedbank marketing manager, ‘Mamoabi Ralebitso, said the dinner will give the business community a chance to come up with a balanced perspective on the implications of the budget.
“There will be an independent analyst who will make presentations that will clarify the budget to the people of the country,” Ralebitso said.
She said members of the business community will have an opportunity to interract with Thahane and seek clarity on issues raised in the budget speech.
“The interaction with the minister of finance and analysts will give the business community a chance to clearly understand what the policies will mean for their businesses,” Ralebitso said.
Business executives from all sectors of Lesotho’s economy are expected to attend the business meeting which will be held at a local hotel.
Ralebitso said they have tried to keep the post-budget analysis as independent as possible by bringing independent analysts from the National University of Lesotho.
She said it was important to bring independent analysts to assess government policy from a neutral and independent point of view.
Ralebitso said students who are studying economics at NUL would also be invited to the dinner to allow them to meet professionals from the business community.
She said a competition for economics students will be held during the dinner.
“The competition involves third and fourth year economics students and deals with current economic issues,” she said.
This year the budget speech will likely touch on the issue of declining revenues from the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) which make up about 60 percent of the total government revenue.
Thahane is also expected to touch on the global financial crisis which has wreaked havoc for Lesotho and other developing countries.
