By: Mohamed M. Sesay
Honorable Members of Parliament have on Friday 24th of June 2022, approved a Supplementary Budget in the sum of One Trillion, Four Hundred and Sixteen Billion, Nine Hundred and Two Million, Two Hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand, Four Hundred Leones ( Le 1,416,902,266,400).
Presenting the Supplementary Budget to Members of Parliament, the Minister of Finance, Denis K. Vandy, intimated that the National Budget was predicated on COVID-19 recovery, but unprecedentedly, the war broke out in Ukraine causing a rise in the price of stocks among others.
The Minister reiterated that the sharp rise in global prices has affected the domestic economy and went on to explain other reasons.
He referenced support from donors including World Bank, IMF, and other Institutions around the world.
Denis K. Vandy highlighted that the key objective of the supplementary budget is in light of the macro-economy alluding to the projection of the world economy and the slowdown of growth in the African Region and the world at large, coupled with inflation rates.
He emphasized that higher food prices and fuel are compelling forces hindering the global economic instability.
On the exchange rate and depreciation, the Finance Minister pegged the current depreciation of the Leones on the skyrocketed global prices. He added that revenue fall and the impact of the Ukraine/Russia War are also not disconnected to the current economic instability across the globe. He assured Members of Parliament that the Bio led Government is trying its level best in order to mitigate the harsh global economic impact by instituting several measures that would help cushion the effect of poor livelihoods citizens are faced with.
Denis K. Vandy continued that the supplementary Budget would also add to the already existing National Budget.
He pointed at the various MDAs that are expected to benefit from the Budget ranging from Agriculture, Health, Defence, Road Maintenance Fund, the Police, and Salaries and Wages Commission, as well as Energy, among others.
“The unprecedented increase in the price of goods and services, we are responsible for the situation, coupled with a fuel price”, he said.
He also revealed that the recruitment of more health workers, teachers amongst others, were also in line with the supplement.
He thanked President Bio for his guidance and the Vice President and Cabinet as well as his team and staff members. He extended gratitude to the development partners for their continuous support to the Government and the people of Sierra Leone. The Budget he said is a continuation of the National Budget. The Minister informed that the Supplementary Budget is largely coming from donor funding, but the Government would also augment it with domestic revenue.
On his Part, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Hon Francis Amara Kai-Samba urged his colleague Members of Parliament to confine their debate on Standing Order 69, 3, which he said speaks to the matter before the House. He said they are pretty sure that money would be available to address the emerging issues. According to him, the Minister of Finance had given reasons for the Supplementary Budget and related challenges. He expressed that the Minister mentioned the names of various institutions that would benefit from the Supplementary Budget and also public debts management, salaries, and wages among others. He also cited development activities.
The Leader of Opposition, Hon Chernor RM. Bah, acknowledged that the economy of the country is challenging of which the Minister was sincere enough to acknowledge it as well. He said they should not play politics with the budget while asking the Minister to clarify concerns raised by previous speakers. “What is important is to ensure that the budget works”. He requested the Ministry of Finance to continue to engage Parliament on the challenges faced by the ministry.
The Leader of Government Business, Hon. Mathew Sahr Nyuma also affirmed that the Supplementary Budget is an addition to the initial National Budget of which he commended the team from the Ministry for their foresight to the economy. He furthered that the reasons for the Supplementary Budget and other related challenges on the globe is inflation coupled with the Ukraine/Russia war.
Hon. Mathew Nyuma expressed that it was better for all and sundry to address the problem by supporting the harmonization of the Wage Bill. He also placed more emphasis on economic solving problems and commended the Minister for such laudable venture. He called for the need for government subsidies to be divested to agriculture in order to improve food security. He concluded by stating that fuel subsidy is not available and went on to speak about mitigation of the projection.
