IV. Did You Know Statement
Did you know that the Senqu (Orange) River is
the second highest single drop waterfall in the world?
V. Currency
It should be noticed that currency, in a
specific sense, is money in any form which remains in circulation or is used as
a medium of exchange. It can either be in the form of coins or in the form of
banknotes. Different countries have their own currencies. For example, the
United States as US dollars (US$). Similarly, Australian dollars (A$), pounds
sterling (£), European euros (€), Indian Rupees (₹), and Russian rubles (₽) are
some of the examples of currencies. The monetary currency used in Lesotho is Lesotho
loti or South African Rand.
In finance, an exchange rate can be defined as
the rate at which a currency is exchanged with another currency. It purely
depends on how powerful a country’s currency is. For example, the currency of
the United States is very powerful, and this is one of the reasons why people
love to exchange their currencies in U.S. dollars. One South African Rand is
equal to 0.069 U.S. dollars.
VI. Major Economic Features
As of 2018, the total population of Lesotho is
2.25 million. Lesotho is only 29,000 square kilometers in space. Compared to
the 2004 census population of 2.01 million, its population has increased
tremendously. The density of people is 67 per square kilometers, and its
population density is one of the lowest in the highlands. The largest and
capital city of Lesotho is Maseru.
Natural resources are resources that are
present in the world without any action of humankind. Their value
characteristics are electrical properties, magnetic properties, gravitational
properties, and forces. The world we live in is full of numerous natural
resources, and it can easily be assumed that there is no country without having
several natural resources. In some of them, these might be present in
abundance, and in the others, they might be present scarcely. The major natural
resources are water, Caledon River, Senqunyane River, Makhaleng River, diamonds
and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The economy of Lesotho is purely based
on livestock, mining, manufacturing, and agriculture, and largely depends on
the inflow of workers’ remittance and receipts from the Southern African
Customs Union (SACU).
The economy of Lesotho is based on animal
husbandry, subsistence farming and small-scale industries that include
textiles, footwear, food processing, construction, and clothing. Industries
like the leather industry, jute industry, canning industry, and milling
industry also contribute to strengthening the economy of the country.
China and the United States are its largest
trading partners. Both of these countries have always maintained good
relationships with Lesotho. Even in some uncertain situations, the three
countries have never stopped their trading partnerships.
Yes, Lesotho is a member of a regional African
trading bloc. In addition, this country has recently initiated an Interim
Economic Partnership Agreement in order to have easy access to the EU (European
Union).
The principal difference between export and
import is that import is a form of trade in which products are bought from
other countries and are introduced to people domestically or locally for the
purpose of earning huge profits. On the other hand, export is a form of trade
in which goods or products are sold to other countries, and these goods are
manufactured locally. However, their quality is always up to the mark. Lesotho’s
main imports are building materials, machinery, fuel, and food. Its core
exports are diamonds and clothing (Lesotho, 2019). Other exports are water,
tobacco, wool, and road vehicles.
The current GDP (gross domestic product) of
Lesotho is 2.640 billion USD (Gill, 2003). The current GNP (gross national
product) of Lesotho is 2.70 USD billion, and analysts say that it would be
around 2.90 USD billion by 2020. The unemployment rate of Lesotho has decreased
from 27.30 percent to 27.75 percent this year. The foreign debt of this country
is $952.5 million. The score of economic freedom of Lesotho is 53.1, and this
makes the country’s economy the 142nd freest in the 2019 Index. The overall
scores have decreased by 0.8 points, with a sharp drop in fiscal health,
property rights and judicial effectiveness. At the same time, a significant
decrease in the rate of unemployment has been noticed. Lesotho is currently
ranked 28th among 45 countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa region.
The Government of Lesotho has always encouraged
the participation of the United States in commercial life and has welcomes
interests from potential American suppliers and investors. Both of these
countries have a good economic relationship and have signed a trade,
investment, and development cooperative agreement (TIDCA). It is believed that
the Government of Lesotho is serious about developing the same kinds of
relationships with other countries. For example, they want to explore the
markets of Canada and England and wish to sell their goods or products over
there. Similarly, they want to bring Chinese products to local markets as these
are cost-friendly and come in a wide range of varieties.
References
Lesotho: Child Grants in
Lesotho - Poverty Relief that Works. (2015). doi:10.18356/9eef24ff-en
Gill, S. J. (2003).
Lesotho. Oxford Art Online.
doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t050603
Lesotho. (2019). The Statesman’s Yearbook Companion, 723-724.
doi:10.1057/978-1-349-95839-9_1412
