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An IMF Monetary and Capital Markets (MCM) Technical
Assistance Mission arrived in Maseru on Sunday, 24th
February 2008 for a two week visit to the Central
Bank of Lesotho (CBL). The purpose of the visit is
to continue MCM’s on-going collaboration with the
CBL aimed at further strengthening the Bank’s
operations in the areas of financial system
supervision, money and capital market development,
and payment systems modernization.
In the area of financial system supervision, the
mission aims to work with the CBL to:
(i)
review the legal and regulatory frameworks for the
supervision of various entities in the financial
system with the view to aligning the Bank’s
frameworks with international best practice;
(ii)
enhance the on-site supervisory process by focusing on-site
examinations on the risky areas of banks’
operations, and that the examined banks receive
relevant and timely feedback from the examinations
to enable them to take appropriate corrective
measures;
(iii)
enhance off-site surveillance practices through ensuring that
banks are appropriately assessed and monitored on a
continuous basis in order to minimize risks to the
banks themselves and to the financial system as a
whole.
With regard to the money and capital markets, the
mission will work with the CBL to devise and
implement suitable arrangements aimed at developing
these markets. These will include actions to
strengthen the structure, settlement processes,
legal and regulatory frameworks and institutional
arrangements that underpin the development of the
government securities market and the corporate bond
market. Suitable arrangements will also be explored
for the setting up of an equities market in Lesotho.
Regarding the modernization of the payment system,
the mission will work with the CBL to continue to
deepen and broaden the large value payment system,
the RTGS, to include key government payments; devise
an appropriate implementation plan for retail
payments, including operationalizing the Maseru
Automated Clearing House (ACH); and strengthen the
CBL’s oversight role over these systems. The mission
will also provide on-the-spot training in all these
areas.
Over and above the Central Bank of Lesotho, the
mission met with the Minister of Finance and
Economic Planning as well as other stakeholders that
included the Managing Directors of the commercial
banks.
The mission concludes on March 7, 2007.
Public
Relations Division – 05 March 2008 |
