Member of Parliament for Constituency 016, SLPP MP Moiwai Momoh, has said the minister of Finance and Economic Development Kaifala Marah needs to give assurance for the 2016 budget which he said was based on mere assumption.
The MP made this statement on Monday November 16, at the beginning of debate on the budget that was presented to parliament on 6th November this year.
The key issue with any budget is implementation, to meet the allocations made for ministries, said Momoh. He added that Marah had based his budget on the assumption that iron ore export would resume and that donor partners would honor their pledges to repatriate flood victims.
Even with all the increase in revenue intake by the National Revenue Authority, the country is at a risk bearing of economic recession if the iron ore mining did not perform as expected and if the donor partners did not disburse the funds they have pledged in time, he said.
He said in 2013 parliament ratified a bill transforming the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board (SLPMB) to Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Company (SLPMC), and that they were expecting government to finance SLPMC to grow more crops like coffee and cacao instead of depending solely on iron ore.
Chairman of Finance Committee, Hassan Sheriff of Constituency 53, looked at health, education, and agriculture, saying the allocations towards these sectors are encouraging as they were the core sector of a nation.
He urged colleague MPs to debate very well and not politicize the debate and to speak as the people’s representatives. Their constituents were looking forward to them to make meaningful contributions, he said.
(C) Politico 16/11/15
