By Saio Marrah
The Leader of National Grand Coalition (C4C) in Parliament, Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella (KKY), of Constituency 062, Kambia district, has said in Parliament that from 2018 to 2021, Sierra Leone has continuously spent more than what it generates.
The budget also known as the appropriation act in parliamentary term, authorize the government’s expenditure from the consolidated fund for the services of Sierra Leone and other related matters.
Speaking at the debate on the 2022 government annual budget in parliament, on Friday 26th November, 2021 the MP said even though the government has made series of interventions to increase revenue mobilization, it has been falling short of about 25 to 30 percent of what it projected in terms of revenue mobilization.
“In 2018, we projected five trillion, we raised 4.8 trillion. 2019, 6.9 trillion, we raised 5.8 trillion. 2020, 8.3, (and raised) 6.21. For 2021 so far, we projected 8 trillion, and we’ve raised 4.5,” he said.
Yumkella joined the finance minister to thank the donor partners for their support which he said has contributed about 25 to 30 percent of the country’s budget.
He also added that the more debt the government takes the more it will become difficult to achieve most of their development projects.
He said in as much as the government has been able to keep the economy going, he cautioned the government not to continuously spend what it cannot raise.
While making reference to the projection that total interest payments are at Le1.44 trillion (2.8 percent of GDP) for 2022, he said interest payments on domestic debt will amount to Le1.26 trillion and interest on foreign debt, Le178.7 billion. He said it matters how much debt a country have, because the more debt the government continues to pile up, the more it will be difficult to achieve its development projects.
He also questioned the Finance Minister’s optimism about the projected higher growth for agriculture in the following year. According to him, the weather pattern is unpredictable for the farmers. He said that will also hinder the production of crops.
He also noted that even though there will be export of Iron Ore next year, the fall in the prices will also have to be taken into consideration.
The Deputy Minister of Finance, Sheik Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, while responding to concerns of MPs, said the projection the government has made is not by guise, but they that have been studying how the economy revolves and so they rely on those trends as recovery continues in a gradual fashion from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Copyright © Politico Online 01/12/21
