THE International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organisation working to foster global monetary cooperation and facilitate international trade, has put the Government of Lesotho under pressure to impose a levy on alcohol and tobacco, the Maluti Mountain Brewery (MMB), the country’s largest brewing company has said.

The Government is pushing for a 30 percent levy on tobacco products and 15 percent on alcohol products.

Understanding on the side of the Government is that tax on these products will reduce the consumption to acceptable levels, citing that the prevailing excessive use and abuse of the products contribute to several socio-economic hazards, which largely affect public health in adverse manners.

“It will also normalise the price differentials that exist between Lesotho towns and those in the neighbouring South Africa, thereby putting Lesotho’s economy on an equal competitive footing. The levy is charged on the consideration for the products exclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT). The person who bears the burden is the final consumer of these products,” the Government report on the tobacco and alcohol products levy bill of 2020 shows.   

The levy is projected to generate a total of M200million in revenue for the Government.

But the MMB is against the introduction of the levy, arguing that in fact, the Government is under pressure from the IMF to introduce the tax.  

“IMF pressure is that countries must diversify their source of revenue. That is the main thing. So they are rushing it because they are under pressure from the IMF to do it. But I don’t think they have applied their minds into how really this thing is going to work.

“As the industry, it’s not like we are difficult. But we want to work with the Government and look into the impacts. Forget what the IMF is telling you, you are here on the ground, understand your operating environment. It is not ideal for taxes like these,” MMB Managing Director (MD), Sesupo Wagamang said in an exclusive interview with Metro recently.

He said the MMB wants to be part of the economic recovery with the brewing company currently contributing almost three percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“So if we are part of the recovery, I’m sure we will get the economy to recover quicker and also boost the investor confidence in the sense that if the policies are supportive, we will invest more money,” the MD further showed.

In 2018, the IMF stated that when it came to why taxes on alcohol and tobacco had not advanced as quickly as they might have, it was partly because there were a lot of economic arguments made about the harmful economic effects of the said taxes.

Part of these arguments included job losses as well as the projected increase in illicit trade in the products. 

The poor are also likely to be hit the hardest if the levy is introduced.