| SACU discusses world financial crisis |
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| Written by Imelda Mokhatu | |
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The Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) Council of Ministers met in Namibia on 31 October to discuss the turbulence in the world financial markets and its effects.
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Minster of Finance, told the council that no region would escape the consequences of the global financial crisis. The SACU member countries are Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said for SACU to mitigate the negative economic consequences, the union needs to address the negative effects timeously, focused and collectively with common goals, objectives and policies.
She said there was a need for sustainable and meaningful
donor assistance for the development and poverty reduction to meet the
Millennium Development Goals.
There is a need to ensure adequate regulatory framework for the financial sector that will prevent the reoccurrence of a similar crisis, she said. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the union cannot lose time in resolving outstanding and contentious issues regarding the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), but it is important to promote policies that will drive the countries’ economies beyond an EPA. SACU Chairperson and Minister of Finance and Development Planning in Lesotho, Timothy Thahane said the meeting was due to the unprecedented turbulence on the world financial markets, a phenomenon that has spread uncertainty and apprehension among market participants across the globe. He said, “The biggest fear in all this is the lack of clarity on the magnitude of this crisis and whether it has run its full course. “Currently it has affected the sub-prime market and it is not clear whether it will spread to other sectors. For us in the developing world, we hope that this will not significantly affect demand for our export commodities and exacerbate the levels of poverty.” Thahane said SACU councillors should use the opportunity to reflect on the challenges being faced by the customs union and come up with an action programme to address them. SACU identified the need to focus on strengthening trade facilitation and addressing the constraints that affect the free movement of goods, recommitted to the development of common policies for balanced economic development of the region. Thahane said Lesotho’s priorities during his term of offices will be on the achievement of the following key objective: finalisation of the SACU Wide Strategy; strengthening the SACU trade facilitation programme; establishment of Institutions; management of the Common Revenue Pool; trade relations; and the consolidation of SACU. |
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