By Politico Staff Writer
The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED) has presented a proposed budget of Le 20.074.8 Billion in what will be its first independent budget since it was separated from the Ministry of Finance.
This disclosure was made on Tuesday, October 6, by officials of the ministry at the ongoing budget planning process for the Financial Year 2021, at the Ministry of Finance Main Conference Hall in Freetown.
Peter Sam-Kpakra, Development Secretary at MoPED, said the Ministry's primary responsibility is to provide strategic direction to the state and coordinate national development policy towards effective and sustainable socio-economic transformation and development of the country.
He told the panel of budget experts that the Ministry also promotes sustainable growth and development through planning, monitoring, and resource mobilization for comprehensive and equitable national development.
Mr Sam-Kpakra noted that they require the budget they demanded in order to effectively coordinate the development activities of the government.
He recalled that last year the ministry’s budget was tied to that of the Ministry of Finance, which meant that they only had about Le 13Bn made available to them. He added that with a separate budget, they intended to undertake more activities as part of their mandate.
Among urgent and important issues the ministry intends to address, according to Sam-Kpakra, is scarcity of office accommodation. He also cited inadequate capacity for district planning, noting that they hope to address these and more in the FY 2021.
According to him, the Ministry's key deliverables for the 2021 Financial Year include the conduct of a Mid-term review of Sierra Leone's Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) (2019-2023), establishment of sixteen districts Development Coordination Committees and National Secretariat, publication of the 3rd Voluntary Review Report on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation in Sierra Leone, which was produced and presented at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) New York.
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