This study is one component of broader World Bank trade facilitation assistance program provided to the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho (hereafter referred as Lesotho). This note presents key findings from the study, which focused on identifying the challenges faced by women owned, led or...

Healthcare access and service delivery quality have been a persistent challenge in Lesotho. The COVID-19 pandemic has added new challenges and opportunities for change. Among those changes is the need to include digital health solutions and think about how new digital health interventions can...

Following a decade of low and unstable growth, Lesotho has a unique opportunity to build a new foundation for robust and inclusive development. As real GDP growth pivoted from a 6.3 percent expansion in 2012 to an 8.2 percent contraction in 2020, per capita income levels declined sharply, and...

Lesotho’s public sector led growth and employment model has struggled to develop a flourishing labor market, and recent external shocks have made developing job-rich growth an even more urgent priority. The primary challenge is a lack of labor demand due to a small, undiversified private...

Lesotho’s fiscal policy has long been shaped by volatile SACU revenues and persistent expenditure pressures, calling for a more rules-based and forward-looking framework to ensure sustainability. Recent efforts to formalize a fiscal rules framework offer an opportunity to strengthen...

This Selected Issues paper provides an analysis of Lesotho’s proposed fiscal rules and their implications. The paper discusses Lesotho current situation compared to international peers and outlines the latest fiscal rules put forward by the authorities. It also evaluates the design and...

The 2025 Article IV Consultation discusses that against a backdrop of low growth and high unemployment, Lesotho’s government-led growth model has struggled to deliver on the authorities’ development goals. Now, an additional set of shocks has further clouded the outlook. Gross domestic...

Lesotho's economy has been struggling with subdued growth, high unemployment, and widespread poverty. The government-led growth model has resulted in an economy heavily reliant on public spending, with a small and undiversified private sector. This has led to low private investment, declining...

The mission assisted the Central Bank of Lesotho in compiling financial soundness indicators (FSIs) using the new methodology of the IMF's 2019 FSIs Compilation Guide. Specifically, in collaboration with the CBL staff the mission updated the methodologies for compiling FSIs for deposit takers...

This report begins with an Executive Summary, which introduces the territorial development approach and the rationale for applying it in Lesotho's development context before going on to summarize key takeaways and recommendations. It is followed by four chapters: chapter 1, Introduction, lays...

Workers in the garment manufacturing industry are often subjected to violations of their rights and are exposed to low wages and difficult working conditions. In response to the exposure of these violations in the media, major fashion brands and retailers subject their suppliers to labour codes...

The Country Opinion Survey in Lesotho assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in Lesotho perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector,...

The study examines the long-run relationship between remittances and household consumption in Lesotho for the period 1991-2019 using the Johansen cointegration technique and the Engle-Granger Residual Approach. Despite remittances in Lesotho representing over 20% of GDP which is highly...

The current study reviews past studies on energy history and structure in Lesotho, the need for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and detailed highlights on advances, functions and role of SMRs towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are reviewed. The Study reveals that Lesotho is experiencing...

The study examines the long-run relationship between remittances and household consumption in Lesotho for the period 1991-2019 using the Johansen cointegration technique and the Engle-Granger Residual Approach. Despite remittances in Lesotho representing over 20% of GDP which is highly...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on decomposing the public-private sector wage differential in Lesotho. Lesotho's public wage bill is significantly higher than in other countries in the region. This paper takes a closer look at the civil service wage bill and examines public sector wage...

The 2023 Article IV Consultation discusses that Lesotho's economy continues to face a number of challenges in the wake of the pandemic. Climate shocks, delays to infrastructure projects, high food and fuel prices, declining diamond prices, layoffs in the textiles sector, and weak regional and...

Lesotho has notably high levels of poverty and inequality despite a high level of government spending on social protection programmes. We assess the performance of this spending in reducing consumption poverty and inequality, applying benefit incidence and microsimulation methods to 2017/2018...

The recent twin crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have caused global economic effects, with gross variation, across countries. Evidently, higher self-sufficient economies with more effective economic performances faired relatively better with these shocks. This calls for...

This paper examines the dynamic causal relationship between financial development, external debt and investment in Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini from 1980-2020 using a multivariate Granger-causality model. The study considers trade, savings and economic growth as intermittent variables in the...

The Kingdom of Lesotho is a landlocked country in southern Africa. Large pockets of the population reside along the Senqu River Valley in the south-eastern reaches of the country, and some of the roads traverse this river to connect to the mountainous areas. Increasing temperatures and changing...

The Kingdom of Lesotho is a landlocked country in southern Africa. Large pockets of the population reside along the Senqu River Valley in the south-eastern reaches of the country, and some of the roads traverse this river to connect to the mountainous areas. Increasing temperatures and changing...

The recent twin crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have caused global economic effects, with gross variation, across countries. Evidently, higher self-sufficient economies with more effective economic performances faired relatively better with these shocks. This calls for...

This paper examines the dynamic causal relationship between financial development, external debt and investment in Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini from 1980-2020 using a multivariate Granger-causality model. The study considers trade, savings and economic growth as intermittent variables in the...

While land titling is advocated to improve land and financial market functioning in developing country cities, evidence of credit market effects is limited. We use 20 years of registry data from Lesotho to assess impacts of an urban titling program overall and by component (titling vs....

Human resource management (HRM) encompasses all the processes of managing work and the organisation of employees. These processes are called HRM functions. This chapter aims to explicate HRM policies and practices in the public service in Lesotho. It describes HRM, traces its evolution, and...

In a country such as Lesotho with high capital mobility and leakages abroad, the relationship between both fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policy is intertwined, such that public spending and reserves are strongly linked. The paper offers an overview of the economic institutions and...

Lesotho's fiscal situation is challenging. This paper assesses the pressure points of main components of revenues, current spending, and capital spending, and then proposes a growth-friendly consolidation plan while protecting the vulnerable

A key challenge for Lesotho is the downward rigidity in public expenditure-which increases when SACU transfers are buoyant but fails to be pared back when they fall. Fiscal rules would be of value in Lesotho to help provide constraints on spending and resist political pressure to overspend,...

Lesotho has been simultaneously hit by the pandemic, declining transfers from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), and the impact of the war in Ukraine. The pandemic exacerbated the impact of sluggish regional performance, climate shocks, and longstanding structural issues such as...

This paper examines the impact of manufacturing employment on women's health and decision-making power within households in Lesotho. Under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000, the employment of women in ready-made garment (RMG) factories in new industrial zones greatly increased....

This paper established some market-driven strategies that influence the competitive growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in Lesotho. The paper identified the following factors; market orientation, competitive intensity, and technological dynamics as variables that influence SMEs'...

In response to a request from the authorities and as part of the Data for Decisions (D4D)1 funded project under the submodule for Fiscal and Debt reporting, a government finance statistics (GFS) technical assistance (TA) mission was held remotely with the Lesotho Ministry of Finance (MOF) during...

This paper examines the impact of manufacturing employment on women's health and decision-making power within households in Lesotho. Under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000, the employment of women in ready-made garment (RMG) factories in new industrial zones greatly increased....

This paper examines the impact of manufacturing employment on women's health and decision-making power within households in Lesotho. Under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000, the employment of women in ready-made garment (RMG) factories in new industrial zones greatly increased....

While the importance of knowledge management is increasingly acknowledged, many firms do not fully understand the significance of innovativeness in relation to knowledge management and firm performance. Consequently, the objective of this article is to investigate innovativeness and its...

This paper examines the impact of manufacturing employment on women's health and decision-making power within households in Lesotho. Under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000, the employment of women in ready-made garment (RMG) factories in new industrial zones greatly increased....