The new World Bank Country Manager for Sierra Leone on Monday paid a courtesy call on the new Minister of Finance, Dennis K. Vandi at his Treasury Building office in Freetown.
In his statement, the new World Bank Country Manager, Mr. Abdu Muwong congratulated the new Finance Minister on his appointment and reiterated the Bank’s commitment to work with his leadership and the government. He continued by highlighting several interventions of the Bank in terms of projects and direct support.
Mr. Muwong cited projects in the Energy Sector, Climate Change, the Environment, Agro-processing, and Value Added Chain, Education, among others. He stated that investment in agriculture is critical to the country’s economy as it also reduces poverty through job creation.
He commended the government for resolving the SL Mining Company issue as, “it is an attractive signal that will it woo investors,” he added.
Madam Gayle Martin, the outgoing Country Manager for the World Bank admonished the Ministry of Finance to think effectively, because according to her, when the Ministry of Finance stops to think, the nation will perish.
Dennis K. Vandi, Minister of Finance in his statement, thanked Madam Gayle for her time in Sierra Leone and welcomed the new Country Manager to Sierra Leone, while expressing his appreciation to the World Bank for their support to Sierra Leone over the years as a major development partner.
He noted that the World Bank interventions have been very supportive to the government, noting that its last portfolio was close to US$900 million to support key sectors including Health, Education, Energy, Fisheries, Agriculture, Governance, and Security.
Fortunately for Sierra Leone, the new Minister stressed that most of the resources are grants or concessional loans.
“In 2020, Government secured a total of $282 Million of grant resources, including $100 million as Budget support, Regional Energy Budget Support of $25 million and the Emergency Corona Response Support of $7.5 million,” he added.
The Minister intimated that these resources helped the government to deliver development activities in communities, towns, districts, and cities amidst the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic in the economy.
He stated that the economy was estimated to be contracted by 2.25% by 2020 instead of the 3.1% projected. “On the one side of the pandemic that contracted the economic activities caused domestic revenue to a shortfall of about 100 billion in 2020 that was at 14.6% in 2019 to 13.3% in 2020, expenditures increased due to COVID-19 from 22%in 2019 to 26% in 2020, as a result, the deficit widening in 2020 from 3.1% in 2019 to 5.5% and similarly, export-driven at 11% in 2019,” he emphasized.
Nonetheless, the minister underscored to partners that, the relatively good news about the economy was projected to grow by 3.1% higher in 2021 as the country anticipated agricultural activities to be increasing while resumption of the iron-ore mining, increased in infrastructural activities led to inflation declining gradually to single digit in March 2021.
He assured the new Country Manager to Sierra Leone of the Ministry’s commitment to work in meeting benchmarks and triggering growth especially those on the Country Policy Institutional Assessment Performance Actions.
