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The Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) held a Workshop to
provide a report on the Private Capital Flows Survey
of 2006, on Thursday 31st January 2008 at
the Lehakoe Club. The purpose of the Workshop was
to discuss findings of the Survey to all data users
and providers. These stakeholders included
institutions from the following sectors, namely,
financial, manufacturing, mining and quarrying,
construction, etc. The Survey was conducted in 2006
for data relating to 2005. It covered a sample of
300 enterprises with significant foreign assets and
liabilities (FAL) across the country.
The findings of the survey indicate as follows:
(i) There
is a need for a close monitoring of Private Capital
Flows on an annual basis. In this connection, it is
important to know the magnitude, composition, and
sectors within which the economy, to which these
flows are going.
(ii) New
investors emerge while others fold, change location
and magnitude of their investment, hence there is a
need to constantly update the data base, and monitor
PCF developments.
(iii)
It
was observed that inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
to Lesotho comes from few countries, and as such
there is a need to diversify sources of FDI.
(iv) The
flows of capital out of Lesotho are over three times
the flows into the country and are dominated by
non-equity funds.
(v) The
manufacturing sector has most foreign liabilities
followed by transport and communication and mining
and quarrying respectively.
(vi) 52
per cent of the liabilities originate from South
Africa, followed by Taiwan and the United States at
36.8 per cent and 5.4 percent respectively.
Following the presentation, the participants to this
Workshop made suggestions about how the Survey could
be improved in order for it to yield more
comprehensive and valuable results in the future.
Private Capital Flows (FDI) Survey was undertaken to
collect information on private capital flows, stocks
and related income variables among entities in
Lesotho which have significant foreign financial
assets and liabilities. The data from this survey
will provide the basis for more focused and well
informed macroeconomic policy analysis, which will,
in turn, facilitate decision-making by the private
sector, as well as influence Government in the
formulation of policy.
The Central Bank of Lesotho adopted and customized a
framework developed by the IMF for assessing and
monitoring private capital flows (PCF) through
annual surveys. These surveys are conducted in
collaboration with key stakeholder institutions
namely, the Bureau of Statistics (BOS), Lesotho
National Development Corporation (LNDC), Ministry of
Finance and Development Planning, and the Lesotho
Textile Exporters’ Association (LTEA).
Public Relations Division - 1st February, 2008 |
