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Lesotho:Thahane: Budget speech (30/03/2007)

30th March 2007

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Date: 30/03/2007
Source: Lesotho government
Title: Budget Speech


Budget Speech to Parliament for the
2007/2008 Fiscal Year
By
Honourable Timothy T. Thahane
Minister of Finance and Development Planning
Maseru Lesotho
2
30 March 2007
Madam Speaker
Allow me to pay my respects to:
His Majesty King Letsie III and Head of State
The Right Honourable the Prime Minister and Head of Government
The Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House
The Honourable President of the Senate
My Colleagues, Honourable Ministers of His Majesty's Government
Honourable Members of both Houses of Parliament
Excellencies Heads of Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations
Distinguished Senior Government officials
Distinguished members of the Media
The entire Basotho nation across Lesotho and abroad
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. It is a great honour for me to once again stand before the Joint
Session of the Houses of Parliament and before all Basotho, in and
outside Lesotho, to present the 2007/08 Budget Address. I am
grateful to His Majesty King Letsie III and to the Right Honourable
Prime Minister for giving me this opportunity to continue to serve the
people of Lesotho. I shall serve, as in the past, with integrity,
professionalism and firm commitment to and application of the
principles of transparency and accountability.
2. Lesotho is losing the global race for jobs, high, broad-based and
sustainable economic growth and poverty eradication to other
countries in SACU, SADC, Africa and Asia. This is a sobering reality.
My address today calls on us as a nation to realistically assess our
role and long-term economic prospects; to seize the opportunities
offered to us to-day to transform our economy; to strengthen and
broaden our productive and trade capacity; and, thereby, to create
jobs and secure a bright future for ourselves and our children. The
address calls on us to heed the words of William Shakespeare,
hundreds of years ago when he said:
"There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the
flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their
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life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full
sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current
when it serves, or lose our ventures".
3. Let us heed the clarion call by His Majesty King Letsie III, when he
said:
"Let Vision 2020 be a band which strengthens our
oneness, a catalyst that spurs us on to higher levels of
performance and achievement"
Let us seize the tide while it flows. Let us chart our course. Let us
embark on this demanding journey towards our Vision 2020 of "A
stable democracy, a united and prosperous nation at peace with
itself and its neighbours", a vision of "a strong economy with a
healthy and well developed human resource base"
Economic Performance during 40 Years of Independence
4. We celebrated 40 years of Independence last year. During this period
Lesotho's economic performance has neither been high nor
sustainable enough to reduce poverty meaningfully nor to create jobs
in sufficient numbers to absorb annual entrants to the labour force.
Even the social gains we made have begun to stall or reverse as a
result of HIV and AIDS, famine and droughts, and of low food
production. The Right Honourable Prime Minister summed up these
deteriorating conditions in his Foreword to Lesotho Vision 2020
when he said:
"This unprecedented deterioration in the land and its
people have ushered in a crisis in the social and moral
fabric of our society. Unemployment is high, and poverty
is deepening; stock theft and armed robbery have become
the order of the day; corruption and nepotism are
spreading like a cancer in our institutions; and there is no
doubt that life is becoming harder by the day for an
increasing number of our people. "
5. Traditional sources of household incomes, agriculture and migrant
work, have been declining. Migrant labour has declined from
126,000 in 1987 to 52,000 at the end of 2006. Prospects for
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agriculture as a high yielding enterprise are threatened by drought
and climate change. While we cannot do anything about migrant
work, we can do something about agriculture. We can start an
aggressive programme to survey irrigable areas throughout the
country and plant high value cash crops. This budget provides
resources to start on such a programme. In addition, every
Mosotho must embrace hard work on the land and in the same
way as any work in the factories or other non-farm activity.
6. We cannot do anything about migrant work. But, we can do
something about other aspects of our economy. We can respond
aggressively and deliberately to some external threats or
vulnerabilities by:
• Diversifying our export products and markets;
• strengthening our productive base by removing investment
impediments, providing skills, investing in infrastructure and
support services thereby creating what is known as a Minimum
Infrastructure Platform (MIP) (for production and exports);
and,
• Strengthening our capacity to trade and take advantage of trade
preferences offered to Lesotho as a Least Developed Low
income country.
Quota-free and duty-Free Access to Global Market
7. Lesotho has done well in developing textile exports of around
US$500 million to the U.S. market under American-Africa Growth
and Opportunity Act. We have become number one African
exporter of textiles under AGOA. But we can export more than
textiles. There are over 3,000 product lines which are eligible for
Quota free and Duty free access to the U.S. market. The only
reason we are not doing so is because of Production and Trade
Capacity Bottlenecks.
8. The same lack of export capacity and product diversification
prevents us from taking advantage of the markets of the European
Union, Canada, China and Japan, all of which have granted
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Lesotho Duty-free, and Quota Free access to their markets for
almost all products except Arms.
9. As Chair of SADC, Lesotho is driving a process of scaling up
regional economic integration. In less than one year, SADC
will launch a Free-Trade Area (FTA) within which member states
will trade with each other duty-free and quota-free. This will raise
significantly the Intra-SADC trade which now stands around 25
percent. With a population of over 235 million, this will present
Lesotho with a huge market that would drive its economic growth
rate to a sustainable 7% per annum. But, alas, there is limited
production and trade capacity to tap this new opportunity.
Madam Speaker
10. It is clear that Lesotho must respond and respond urgently to these
opportunities. It must respond by expanding its productive base
and capacity to trade regionally and internationally.
11. Research has shown that high, broad-based and sustainable
economic growth is the only mechanism that increases a country's
standard of living. For such growth to be realized, high
investment rates are required. But high investment alone is not
sufficient to raise growth and create jobs. Five key pre-conditions
are also necessary:
• Political and social stability;
• Sound macro-economic management.
• Conducive and enabling investment climate;
• Public investment in complementary physical infrastructure and
support services; and,
• Sound financial system
12. I need not say anything about the heavy costs of political instability
and the slow difficult recovery. Macro-economic stability has to do
with how we manage our economy, budgets and finances and how
we supervise and regulate our financial system. Weak financial
systems allow syndicates, money-launderers and pyramid
schemes to operate and some have brought down Governments in
other regions.
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13. Establishment of an investor-friendly enabling investor climate and
the creation of the a complimentary Minimum Infrastructure
Platform (MIP) are what this budget is all about; namely,
- The start of the construction of Metolong Water Supply
Project and its access roads and clinics;
- The 30 million US Dollar Telecommunications
investment in Telecom Lesotho, about to be concluded
with China Exim Bank, for the expansion of the network
throughout the whole country;
- Improvements in cross-border customs and immigration
facilities;
- Expansion of electricity supply
- Urban water reticulation and waste water systems; and,
- Urban roads.
Over and above these MIP elements we need to focus on the speed of our
transit trade with our neighbour infrastructure in order to improve supply
and export chains from Lesotho. This is essential to ensure that our
products get to the markets on time.
Good Investment Climate Drives Economic Growth
14. The Government recognizes that private sector - from farmers to
micro-entrepreneurs, from vendors to local manufacturing,
transport and construction companies and to multinational
enterprises - must be at the heart of Lesotho's efforts to attain a
high, broad-based and sustainable economic growth, job creation
and poverty eradication. The Government accepts that its policies
and performance shape the context within which private firms and
individuals take their investment decisions. They compare
investment climates, costs and risks across countries and
regions in deciding on whether or not and where to invest. In
doing this, they take account of the costs of Doing Business and
perceived risks. Lesotho's attractiveness as an "investment
destination" depends on their assessment of the five key factors
which I have just listed.
7
Madam Speaker
15. The Government has decided to overhaul Lesotho's laws,
regulations and procedures in order to improve the investment
climate and reduce the costs and risks of doing business which
are high. The International Finance Corporation and the World
Bank have ranked 175 countries in the world in terms of the ease
of Doing Business. Lesotho is ranked 114 out of 175 countries
compared to its SACU members, Botswana is ranked 48, Namibia
42, Swaziland 76, and South Africa 28. For example, it takes 73
days, 8 procedures and 40 percent of per capita GDP to start a
business in our country compared to 2 days in Australia. To get a
trading licence, it takes 265 days, 14 procedures and costs 128
percent of per capita GDP. These costs are not likely to
encourage investors to come in droves to Lesotho unless it has a
unique or strategic commodity in high demand globally, such as oil.
Madam Speaker
16. Government could not stand by and watch the country's capacity
to create jobs undermined by inhospitable investment laws and
regulations that "add no value". It has therefore embarked on two
initiatives, one starting in April and the other in October. The first
is supported by the World Bank and seeks to reduce the risks,
time and cost of registering and licensing companies; delays
in immigration and issuing of passports; and, increase access
to finance by small and medium enterprises (SMMEs). The
second initiative, to be supported by the Millennium Challenge
Corporation of the United States Government, will complement the
first and focus on improving and streamlining registration of land
titles and leases; developing a mortgage financing market;
introduce small claims court; strengthen alternative dispute
mechanism and improve civil and legal procedures. The Chief
Justice himself is leading these reforms that will make resolution of
commercial disputes fast and inexpensive. On the financial
sector, the reforms will focus on the introduction of automatic
cheque clearing system that will make the time a cheque takes
before one gets his or her money shorter. Another initiative will
also establish employee productivity improvement centres, at
Maseru and at Maputsoe. These will be undertaken jointly with the
Government sector.
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17. This World Bank supported project will also promote horticulture
and tourism sectors. We have spoken many times about
diversification of agriculture, particularly into high-value cash crops.
Since our soils are similar to those of South Africa, a horticulture
out-grower pilot scheme will be implemented this fiscal year. It will
give Lesotho fruit produce to South Africa, SADC, and UK markets
which are growing at about 12 percent annually. In one pilot,
farmers will set up a horticulture block farm of 21 hectares and
run it as a single farm. They will be assisted by Alpha Farm
provided Manager. In another pilot, farmers will operate as
individual farmers in a block farm under the direction of a Foreman
from Denmar Estates. The produce will initially be marketed in
Lesotho, followed by South Africa, SADC and the UK as the quality
of the produce and standards improve. The partnership with the
South African producers seeks to tap and share their experience
both in production and marketing and to join their supply chain.
Successful practices will be rolled out to other farmers in Lesotho.
18. Although tourism contributes a tiny 1.5 percent of GDP compared
with a regional average of 7 percent, there is considerable
potential for increasing its share in the economy. Lesotho's
tourism assets have not been developed and are therefore bypassed
by the majority of tourist agencies that bring thousands and
thousands of tourists to our neighbour. This budget will support
the strengthening of tourism products, improve links with tourist
agencies, improve our image and "Brand", and strengthen the
management of the sector. We will improve marketing channels
for hotels and guesthouses by linking them to an on-line
accommodation reservation platform through Worldhotel
Link. We will also train tour operators and guides through the
Lesotho Council of Tourism and the Lesotho Tourism Development
Corporation. Commercial concessioning of certain key sites will be
considered especially of Liphofung Cultural and Historical site,
Tšehlanyane National Park, Sehlabathebe National Park, Bokong
Nature Reserve and Semonkong. The Thaba-Bosiu Cultural
Village is also to be completed this coming fiscal year.
Madam Speaker
19. Conducive and enabling investment climate alone is not sufficient
to increase investment flows. A package of hard and soft
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infrastructure is very necessary to reduce the competitive cost of
transport, telecommunications, energy, water and waste water
services.
20. Lesotho's deficit in infrastructure is huge but its resources are
limited. It is critical therefore that infrastructure investments are
prioritized and focused on those sectors that are likely to contribute
maximally to economic growth. We also need to be innovative in
using our financing models such as Private Public Partnership that
is being used to replace the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital. We must
tap into the private sector's financing and project management
skills while recognizing the complexity of such PPP Projects.
21. In the coming year Government will seek to build a Minimum
Infrastructure Platform (MIP) that will combine priority physical
infrastructure investments that are linked or associated with
specific set of investments that support facilities and enterprises.
This approach to public investment and budget allocation will
enable Government to improve:
• Business environment;
• Trade facilities regulations and institutions;
• Skills development and industrial linkages;
• Financial services; and,
• Infrastructure and support services such as logistics, customs
procedures and facilities, products certification and standards.
Madam Speaker
22. This is a start of a long journey towards high, broad-based and
sustainable economic growth, job creation and poverty eradication.
The road may be winding and full of challenges but we have no
choice but to walk it together and fast.
Economic and Budget Performance
23. I have indicated that the growth of our economy is not satisfactory.
The less spectacular rate of 3 percent in the last 5 years mirrors
equally stagnant growth that characterized Lesotho's 40 years of
Independence. Yes, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP)
investments did push growth higher, and it peaked at 9 percent in
1996 before falling to a still strong 7.5 percent in 1997. This was,
10
however, the last year of strong growth, as a recession set
following the 1998 political upheavals.
24. In recent years Garments manufacturing has been the key driver of
growth, recording sharp growth of 53 percent in 2001 and
maintaining strong pace until 2004, before stalling in 2005, as a
result of strong competition from Asia and the appreciation of the
Rand/Loti. In 2005, jobs fell from a peak of 55,000 to about 35,000
before recovering towards the end of the year.
25. Although the recession resulted from external factors, Government
took steps to counteract the loss of jobs. In particular, to improve
the financial position of firms, a supportive tax regime was
introduced in 2006/2007. Firm level training was also introduced to
bolster employee productivity. Strong support was also received
from US importers who have developed innovative programmes for
improving production and reversing the effects of HIV and AIDS,
and continuing imports from Lesotho producers. We recall the
Multi-Fibre Forum and the visit of Bono and subsequent orders that
followed his visit.
Madam Speaker
26. Additional efforts will be made to acquire factory shells in
Maputsoe using already serviced sites and in Maseru (Ha Tikoe)
where an industrial estate will be designed and developed.
Financing arrangements for the Metolong Dam, which will provide
needed water to the industry and 95,000 households in TY,
Mazenod, Roma and Morija have been concluded with Kuwait
Fund for M100 million for Metolong. The project includes a major
water reticulation component to be operated by WASA. A
wastewater project estimated to cost M257 million will also be
launched to deal with liquid waste from industry and also to open
more innovative production lines such as the Red label by Bono
which requires sophisticated treatment of waste. The feasibility
and detailed designs for the Tšoeneng Landfill are expected to be
completed in May, paving the way for concluding financing
arrangements and construction of the landfill which will replace the
Tšosane facility.
Madam Speaker
11
27. The Government's policy strategy is clear: retain existing local
and foreign owned textile investors, support them through
employee training; attract new investors and diversify the
production base and markets by supporting them with
infrastructure and support services.
Madam Speaker
28. Agriculture presents a very difficult problem. Its production has
been declining over many years, yet it is the only sector which
could potentially support food security. Its share in domestic
economic activity has not kept pace with population growth or with
other sectors of the economy. Its share has declined from 25
percent in 1980 to 17 percent in 2005. There cannot be any doubt
that its role in the economy will gradually decline, in part because
of the inability so far for the sector to transform and also due to
external and volatile weather conditions which may be driven by
climate change.
29. The most effective method for reducing poverty is to strengthen
the assets held by the poor - their land and their labour.
Although landlessness is high and increasing, at least half of
households do have access to land. This creates an opportunity
for poverty eradication. To transform agriculture a number of
interventions will have to be considered seriously:
• Reverse land degradation and increase its productivity through
irrigating suitable lands adjacent to water catchments, rivers and
lakes.
• Change crop mix from the traditional crops with low cash values
towards high value commercial crops;
• Make agriculture a full time occupation.
• Complement reforms with efficiency gains from block farming
which will tap the productive benefits of mechanization;
• Use modern business management skills including marketing in
farming.
12
Madam Speaker
30. It is interesting to observe that much of the reduction in the role of
agriculture is accounted for by a sharp reduction in crop farming
compared to livestock which decreased only marginally in the last
26 years. Given its resilience therefore, support to the livestock
sector presents the greatest opportunity for poverty eradication. At
the minimum, the following interventions are required:
• Increase productivity of livestock through stronger reforms in
range management;
• improve livestock management, feeding and culling.
• Introduce reforms to commercialize the livestock sector
Madam Speaker
31. Money and supply of inputs alone are not the answer to increasing
agricultural productivity and food security. Introduction of modern
management systems, scientific skills, marketing and work
disciplines are needed urgently if Lesotho is to feed its people.
Partnership with our neighbours, who share the same soils,
grasses, and weather with us, can provide demonstration models;
but we must take the plunge.
Priorities and Allocations for 2007/2008
32. The Budget Estimates for 2007/2008 that I presented to Parliament
for approval consist of a total expenditure of M7,229.7 of which
Recurrent Expenditures is M5,315.5 Million and capital expenditure
of M1,924.2 Million.
33. These expenditures are to be financed by Government Revenue of
M6,393.1 million, Grants from Lesotho's Development Partners
and soft multilateral loans of M490 million and M330.7 million,
respectively. This results in a budget deficit of M346.7 million.
34. When he opened this Seventh Parliament, His Majesty King Letsie
III set out the priorities of his Government which drive expenditures
during this session of Parliament. The overall objective is to move
13
towards the attainment of Lesotho's Vision 2020 by promoting a
high, broad-based and sustainable economic growth; creating jobs
and reducing poverty. The 2007/2008 Budget provides allocations
to implement these priorities and start on others that will be
implemented in the next Budget or two.
35. Let me remind Honourable Members of these priorities which have
been broadly set out by His Majesty and which derive from the
wide national consultative process that gave rise to the Poverty
Reduction Strategy of the Government. They are:
• Combating HIV and AIDS through the promotion of "Know
Your Status (KYS) campaign and other methods;
• Increasing agricultural productivity;
• Developing infrastructure;
• Improving access to and quality of Health care and education
particularly vocational and technical education;
• Managing the environment;
• Improving efficiency of delivery of services to the public;
• Deepening and consolidating democracy; and,
• Providing increased water, sanitation and other rural and
urban roads.
The attainment of these goals will be realized, among others, by
creating an enabling investment climate for private sector;
expanding tourism and tourism services; and, improving
delivery of public services to the people on time and within
budget.
36. Regarding HIV and AIDS, the Government is to intensify the
Know-Your-Status Campaign and to provide Anti Retro Viral
treatment to infected persons. For this purpose, the
Government has allocated a total of M109 Million. This
14
amount includes an allocation of M46 Million for the National Aids
Commission, which coordinates HIV/AIDS related activities in the
country. In addition, Government will provide assistance to AIDS
orphans through financing of basic needs in education. An amount
of M39.2 Million has been allocated for this purpose.
38. The HIV and AIDS Pandemic has further created a burden on
health facilities due to the increasing demand for services. For this
reason, the Government has made an allocation of M246 Million to
finance the rehabilitation of health facilities around the country.
This amount includes an allocation of M175 Million for the
construction of a referral hospital to replace the existing Queen
Elizabeth II Hospital.
39. One of the key Millennium Development Goals is education for all
by 2015. Government has since 2000 financed free primary
education programme, which saw the first cohort graduate at the
end of 2006. As a continuation to the improvement of education at
all levels, this budget proposes an allocation of M88.4 million to
finance activities in the education sector, including provision of
infrastructure.
40. To be able to support meaningful job creation and income generation,
it is necessary to create an enabling environment for private sector
investment, through favourable legal and institutional reforms,
including complementary infrastructure. To this end, the estimates
propose M25.9 million to finance industrial infrastructure and private
sector competitiveness and economic diversification. A further
M668.9 million is proposed for provision of urban and rural roads,
urban and rural water supply, electricity and construction of roads and
foot bridges.
41. Even with the hard patch that the textiles industry went through in the
last two years, the industry still remains important to our economy,
particularly with respect to its contribution to employment presently at
46,424. To expand this employment level, a provision of M60 million
for the construction of access infrastructure for Metolong Dam has
been set aside. In addition to Kuwait Fund, the Arab Funds of
BADEA, SAUDI Fund and OPEC Fund for International Development
have committed themselves to financing the engineering design and
construction of the Dam. The MCC is appraising the financing of the
15
downstream user. The total cost is expected to be around M1.0
billion.
42. As I noted, Agriculture continues to play an important role in the
livelihoods of rural communities. To support the sector, the budget
proposes an allocation of M59 million to finance agriculture projects,
including irrigated crop production to offset the negative impact of
repeatedly increasing droughts.
43. Lesotho has a high potential for tourism, although more has to be
done for its development. The Government has identified a number
of key activities that will be implemented to promote tourism, including
the development of infrastructure in the tourism areas of the country.
For 2007/2008, the Government will focus on completion of the
development of the Cultural Heritage Centre in Thaba-Bosiu as well
as the development of the Highlands area for tourism. A total of
M39 million has been proposed for the development of tourism in
2007/2008. The World Bank will, in addition, finance a programme
for tourism promotion that will enhance the marketing capacity of local
hotels, guest houses and other tourism businesses by building an
online reservation platform to facilitate worldwide hotel reservations.
To complement this allocation, the proposed budget for the
development of road infrastructure, particularly the Literapeng-
Tšehlanyane road will also serve the tourism sector.
44. Public sector service delivery remains the most critical area in the
development of our country. Government will scale up the Public
Sector Reform and Improvement Programme aimed at improving the
efficiency of service delivery in the public sector. This includes among
others improvements in public financial management, which are a
necessary prerequisite in ensuring efficient resource allocation and
prudent utilisation of the same resources. Government's plans are
well advanced to replace the current financial information system in
the Treasury with an updated and more efficient computer system in
2008. This will also support decentralisation of selected services such
as procurement, which was launched in January 2007. Furthermore,
the programme provides for capacity building in macro-economic
policy formulation and management. The proposed budget allocation
for Public Sector Reform is M58.2 million.
Tax reforms
16
45. In the last budget address, the Government provided tax incentives
for the development of the private sector, especially export sectors. I
am pleased to announce that these reforms have borne positive fruits
and our preliminary growth rate rebounded to 6.2 percent for 2006.
While it was expected that the incentives would have resulted in a
reduction in tax revenue collection, expectations are that the revenue
outcome for 2006/2007 will exceed target by around 14 percent. This
is an indication that lower corporate taxes do not necessarily result in
reduced revenue collection. I must however, also recognize that
LRA has also been efficient in its collection. There has also been
higher Income tax, Customs and VAT. For this I want to thank
everybody. This has enabled Government to provide the services
that I outlined above.
46. This year a major review of our tax regime will be undertaken in order
to render it fair, simple and equitable. In addition, the Government
has decided to give back something to the Taxpayers. The tax credit
of M2911 will be increased to M3,500 thereby resulting in M589 that
Government will not take from the taxpaying public. This will benefit
the low income groups more. In addition, the threshold where people
start paying taxes will be raised from M11,643 per annum to
M14,000. All these will result in a 20% gain to the Tax payer.
47. There are two other groups in our society who should never be
forgotten. Their heroism in coping with the daily challenges of life
should be a source of inspiration to all of us. Here I speak of those of
our fellow men and women who have to cope with lack of or poor
eyesight, hearing, speech or just walking. During the fiscal year, the
Government will pay special attention on how they could be assisted
more to live normal, independent and productive lives. My colleague,
the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment hopes to lead
this initiative.
48. The second group is the elderly men and women who can no longer
help themselves as they used to but who still possess a lot of wisdom
and insights. The Government values them greatly for without them
some of us would not be here. To assist them, Government has
decided to increase their monthly pensions from M150 per month to
M200 per month. The Government will also review how the facilities
at Pay-Points can be improved.
17
49. Lastly, the public servants have been waiting to see what
Government will give them as Salary Adjustment this year. The
Government is ready, and willing to provide salary increases provided
these are matched by high and cheerful service delivery to the public
whose taxes pay our salaries. However, taking everything into
account the Government has decided to grant a 10% salary increase
across the board and as I have already, indicated raise the tax
threshold by inflation. This means that an employee who was paying
tax from M11,643 will only pay tax when his or her salary reaches
M14,000 per annum.
Appreciations
50. On behalf of the Government I wish to thank all our Development
Partners for their generous financial and intellectual support. Your
support has been a source of encouragement and solidarity.
51. My sincere thanks go to my colleagues in the Cabinet Budget
Committee for having shaped the proposed budget for 2007/2008 and
to the Cabinet for the guidance and direction given during the
preparation of this Budget. I also wish to thank Government officials
whose joint efforts in the last few weeks have led to the finalization of
this Budget and speech. In particular, I wish to thank the Finance
Budget Team, many of whom are now in the districts to discuss and
explain the messages of this Budget to the people.
Conclusion
Madam Speaker
52. Let me conclude by reminding the Honourable members and all those
who are listening to these proceedings, that our future as a nation in
this inter-dependent and competitive world lies in developing a vibrant
economy - an economy that will generate high broad-based and
sustainable economic growth: an economy that will create lasting jobs
for many of our people: and, an economy that will reduce poverty as
well as care for its vulnerable children.
Khotso! Pula! Nala!


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