Pre and post budget speech analyses to be broadcast

Next Monday, February 16th's budget speech will be beamed live to selected parts of the country where the people can see the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Timothy Thahane presenting it to Parliament.

Assistant Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr. Popane Lebesa told a pres briefing on February 10 that the television broadcast will be seen from the 'Manthabiseng Convention Centre, in Mafeteng, at the Leribe Hotel, in Mohale's' Hoek, Qacha's Nek and Thaba Tseka where officials of the Ministry if Finance will be at hand to explain any matters arising from the budget speech. There will also be an open forum for any discussions on economic matters, he announced.

This has been done because the budget speech affects the lives of the people and the Ministry believed that these kinds of forums will instill interest amongst the nation about affairs that affect them. 

"Individual people will still be able to receive live coverage of the speech through their radios, but people who choose to listen on their own will definitely miss out on the interesting discussions between the Finance Officers and the nation following the speech in these places," he said.

The Ministry has also decided to involve professionals from the wide spectrum of academic fields for a professional analysis before and after the budget speech, both on national radio and television. This will be hopefully be done 30 minutes before the budget speech, by a business specialist and an academic from the National University of Lesotho, speculating on the contents of the budget and, following the Finance Minister's presentation, these same professionals will analyze the speech in terms of their expectations and what it contained.

Outstanding students of economics and accounts from the NUL and the Centre for Accounting Studies will  also be brought in to air their views the following day, he said.

"We decided to also hook up the younger generation into the analysis of the speech to also instill in them an interest in the budget speech since they are the future specialists and leaders of the country."

Responding to questions on how the forums would help communities, Mr. Lebesa said depending on the issues they raised, the audiences can impact on the Finance Minister's views, even making him introduce a supplementary budget and thus influence the national economy.

10 February 2004