The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Momodu Lamin Kargbo has hinted that the financial statement and budget for the 2017 financial year will reflect measures taken by the Government of Sierra Leone to diversify the country’s economy.
He made this hint on Tuesday, 19th July 2016 as he launched the African Economic Outlook (AEO) and Country Note for Sierra Leone 2016 in the conference hall of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
“All of what we have discussed pertaining to the report means one thing-we need to diversify our economy,” Minister Kargbo asserted, pointing out that pages 6 and 7 of the Country Note for Sierra Leone which specifically focus on debt policy and private sector development are suggesting diversification.
The Minister called the report “a product of critical knowledge” that proffers policy options to ensure that Sierra Leone reaps dividend from urbanization. The theme of this year’s AEO report is: Sustainable cities and structural transformation in Africa.
Minister Kargbo went on to recall the recent review of the country’s economy by the IMF pointing out that the Fund’s concern over Sierra Leone declining budgetary support and its call for a diversification of the economy.
“That is exactly the agenda on course at this material point in time. I can say it was discussed in Cabinet last week and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development will hold its first meeting on the issue today relating to measures to be taken to diversify our economy,” Mr. Kargbo stated and assured that the general public will hear something on that when he presents the nation’s next statement of financial policies and budget to Parliament in October instant.
“We have to build on our strength; we have to build on our resilience; we have to build on who we are. I can assure you that you will hear about how agriculture would be transformed; you will hear about how we will invest in fisheries; you will hear how we will invest in the wood industry. These are a few of the items our diversification programme will focus on,” Minister Momodu Kargbo pointed out.
Meanwhile, despite the deterioration of the country’s economy in 2014-15 from 20.7% in 2013 to 4.6% in 2014 and further to 21.1% in 2015, leading to reduction in tax revenues in the face of higher-than-budgeted expenditure outlays, Minister Kargbo is confident of a medium-term outlook that is positive with growth projected to recover by 4.3% in 2016 to gradually increase to around 6.5% by 2020. He asserts that despite challenges along the way, he maintains, “I believe the country in partnership with the international community, will overcome as we did over the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.”
He therefore assured of government’s continuation of its sustained efforts at reform of the fiscal and financial sectors of the economy in order to generate “a robust and sustainable growth” that can facilitate poverty reduction, and posited in that respect that, government will push forward with strong measures to increase domestic revenues and rationalize expenditures, hopeful that these measures will no doubt contribute to arresting the declining exchange rate.
By Sayoh Kamara-PRO, MoFED
Thursday July 21, 2016
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