tive male wage earners
work in South Africa

Unemployment rate: 45% (2000 est.)

Budget: revenues: $76 million expenditures: $80 million, including
capital expenditures of $15 million (FY99/00 est.)

Industries: food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts;
construction; tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 15.5% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South
Africa (2000)

Electricity - consumption: 100 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 100 million kWh note: electricity supplied by
South Africa (2000)

Agriculture - products: corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock

Exports: $250 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Exports - commodities: manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road
vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals

Exports - partners: South African Customs Union 53.9%, North America
45.6% (1999)

Imports: $720 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Imports - commodities: food; building materials, vehicles, machinery,
medicines, petroleum products

Imports - partners: South African Customs Union 89.5%, Asia 7% (1999)

Debt - external: $715 million (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $123.7 million (1995)

Currency: loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR)

Currency code: LSL; ZAR

Exchange rates: maloti per US dollar - 11.58786 (January 2002), 8.60918
(2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997);
note - the Lesotho loti is at par with the South African rand which is
also legal tender; maloti is the plural form of loti

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Communications Lesotho

Telephones - main lines in use: 22,200 (2000)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 21,600 (2000)

Telephone system: general assessment: rudimentary system domestic:
consists of a few landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and
a minor radiotelephone communication system international: satellite
earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios: NA (2002)

Television broadcast stations: 1 (2000)

Televisions: NA

Internet country code: .ls

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: 4,000 (2000)

Transportation Lesotho

Railways: total: 2.6 km; note - owned by, operated by, and included in
the statistics of South Africa narrow gauge: 2.6 km 1.067-m gauge (1995)