The Minister of Finance, Momodu Kargbo, will present the national budget for the 2018 fiscal year to Parliament, tomorrow, 27 October 2017. The 2018 budget is vital to the operations of the government. This year’s budget will be especially interesting because it binds a government, no matter what party is in power, to projected expenditures for all government services.
Speaking to people along the streets of Freetown on their expectations on the 2018 budget, most of them were quick to point out that they are expecting a salary increase for civil servants as was the case in the 2012 budget leading towards the elections.
The priority areas, and budgets that are expected to be increased, include education, agriculture, health and infrastructure. The MDA budgets are supposed to be activity based and place a priority on revenue generation.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) has developed an automated system that will start working in January 2018, to help keep track of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) spending.
According to Sahr Ansumana, representing Citizen Budget Watch Sierra Leone during the SLBC “Morning Coffee” show, civil society groups have been monitoring the budget hearings that were held in August and September.
“As non state actors, we refer to this years budget as the Citizen’s budget,” he said. He explained that they are very interested in the MDAs budgets and the activities they’ll be undertaking throughout 2018.
According to the Coordinator of Budget Advocacy Network (BAN), Abu Bakarr Kamara, during the budget hearing, “Apart from the Constitution, the second most important document is the budget. Therefore, the process to determine budgets and the fate of Sierra Leoneans should be taken very seriously.
“Governance is about providing services to the people of this country, and it should be participatory, accountable and inclusive,” he said.
According to the Director of Budget at the Ministry of Finance, Matthew Dingie, one of the major challenges facing the Ministry, and all Ministries, has to do with domestic revenue mobilization.
“We were looking for aspects of the budget with revenue generation and how government can spend it,” he said. “MDAs were informed in the Budget Call Circular to come up with areas whether existing or potential that will bring in revenue”.
AMK/25/10/1
By Alhaji M. Kamara
Thursday October 26, 2017.
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