A recent analysis on the National Revenue Authority (NRA) collection data has shown that they may not be able to hit the 20% revenue to GDP target by 2023 due to the COVID 19 shock on the economy, which reversed the earlier gains. According to the Public Financial Management consortium, the Authority is currently short by 1.7% of GDP per month on average to hit the much talked about 20% domestic revenue to GDP target.
This Analysis was undertaken by the Consortium of Non-Governmental Organizations led by Christian Aid under the DFID supported Public Financial Management Project titled “Strengthening Public Financial Management, Anti-Corruption and Accountability Institutions in Sierra Leone“. The report stated that on the average, NRA is collecting between 1.08% and 1.23% of domestic revenue to GDP for the first seven (7) months in 2019 and 2020. They however, cautioned that, if this trend continues, NRA may not be able to hit the 20% revenue to GDP target by 2023 as the COVID 19 shock reversed the earlier gains before it struck.
For NRA to meet its domestic revenue to GDP target in 2023, it must be able to raise at least 1.7% of GDP per month on average The revised domestic revenue target for 2020 is Le 5.39 trillion representing 13.0% of GDP.
They went further to clarify that, trends in the domestic revenue to GDP shows that the Authority has raised Le 3.1 trillion representing 7.6% of GDP for the first seven (7) months in 2020 and that if this trend continues NRA will only be able to raise 12.97% of domestic revenue to GDP by the end of the year. This will be less than what was achieved in 2019 which was 14.3% of GDP for 2019; the Authority it says may likely collect less in 2020 compared to 2019 in terms of percentage to GDP.
The Public Financial Management consortium, which comprises the Budget Advocacy Network, Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law, Restless Development and Christian Aid with support from DFID, sees these commitments as vital for the delivery of essential social services including the Free Quality Education and the Free Healthcare.
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque