By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Sierra Leone’s transparency ranking in financial accountability has dropped. This was highlighted in the final document prepared by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Assessment for the year 2021, quoting Transparency International’s latest report.
The MoF report made reference to the country’s Transparency International 2021 ranking which indicated that “the country’s ranking has deteriorated between 2019 and 2021. The TI 2021 ranking was 115 out of 180 countries with a score of 34 out of 100, down from the 2020 ranking of 117 out of 180 countries with a score of 33, and from the 2019 ranking of 119 out of 180 countries with a score of 33”.
It was acknowledged that numerous shocks over the past decade have taken a toll on Sierra Leone’s development trajectory, with the country witnessing a period of strong economic and social performance as institutions recovered and policies improved.
The report noted that the government moved quickly to implement key reforms recommended in the 2016 Article IV Consultation, where earlier lack of implementation contributed to the previous Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement going off track. It added that over 2018-2019, the government reformed fuel subsidies and duty waivers, and implemented outstanding revenue, expenditure, and debt management reforms, paving the way for the current ECF arrangement.
It pointed out that the government’s Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP, 2019-2023) aspires to develop human and physical capital while strengthening governance and accountability to build an economy that is inclusive and resilient to shocks. It however said that the financing situation is tight and highlighted that external grants and concessional financing by traditional development partners were considered a fraction of the support other countries received at the time they were emerging from fragility.
The report mentioned that high public debt and the newly verified stock of legacy arrears weighed on the budget. It said that at the same time, the domestic financial system is approaching the limit of additional government instruments it can absorb.
“These constraints call for difficult choices in tackling the country’s large development needs,’’ the report reads.
According to the Deputy Minister of Finance1, Sheku Bangura, the ministry very much values the report published, the fifth on public expenditure in financial accountability assessment and the first gender-responsive assessment for the year 2021. He said this report is the fifth round done by the PEFA framework in Sierra Leone.
‘’This tells you that we are very much committed as a country to enhancing the institutional structures whether from the regulatory space, right down to systems and procedures for enhancing our public financial management architectural in the country,’’ Bangura said.
He said they are very supportive of the process and grateful to the European Union (EU) for supporting the programme. He mentioned the system framework as internationally accepted, based on standard comparable framework or methodology with key indicators that will be used to assess across countries, which also try to assess within the country how the reforms are improving.
Bangura also noted that the framework helps the government to dig into their reforms and recognize the efforts they have been making. He promised they will try to sustain improvements that have been mentioned in the report.
The objective of the 2021 PEFA repeat assessment is to provide the government with an objective indicator-led assessment of the National Public Finance Management (PFM) system that includes the gender-responsive dimension. It also focuses on promoting an updated understanding of the overall fiduciary environment of the PFM systems and assist in identifying those parts of the PFM system in need of further reform and development.
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