Smaller SACU members should cut expenditure - IMF

In a newly released report by the IMF African Department called 'In the wake of the global economic crisis: adjusting to lower revenue of the Sacu in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland', the IMF noted that fiscal adjustment within the BLNS to date, has been uneven.

The IMF estimated a large revenue shortfall for the smaller economies of Sacu, while the impact on South Africa was expected to be small, at about 0,3% of gross domestic product (GDP), while the Sacu revenue shortfall in Lesotho and Swaziland would be 23,3% and 15,9% of GDP, respectively, over the next three years.