By Anthony Vandy
FREETOWN, Nov. 15 (232news.com) – 2021—At the G20 conference in Glasgow, Sierra Leone’s civil society organizations are urging world leaders to eliminate the country’s debt. Budget Advocacy Network, Oxfam, Christian Aid, and ActionAid join forces with the UK Jubilee Debt Campaign to speak out on behalf of low-income nations affected by climate change, who are finding it difficult to combat due to restricted economic space.
Sierra Leone is currently dealing with a debt problem, as well as climate change and the COVIP-19 pandemic. As a result of the COVID and the West, the GDP declined by 2.2 percent in 2020.
As a result of the COVID, the West African country spent 18% of its overall revenue on external debt payments.
Sierra Leone is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, having experienced the damage and deaths caused by climate crises that were not caused by it. Natural calamities such as flash floods and mudslides have revealed the country’s weaknesses in recent years, putting enormous strain on an already frail health system and diminishing economy. Abu Bakarr Kamara, the coordinator of the Budget Advocacy Network, says:
“Resolving the debt issue is one of the most effective ways to assist in the fight against climate change, as it will mean the government will be able to devote more resources to this cause.”
Lower-income countries have demanded that debt be discussed at COP 26 but have been denied. Sierra Leone’s President, His Excellency Julius Maada Bio, spoke at the summit, citing debt as a major impediment to combating the climate emergency, warning that “excellent climate policies and objectives alone, such as ours in Sierra Leone, may fall short.”
It is critical for international leaders to act, with 48 countries spending five times more on debt repayments than on reducing the terrible effects of climate change.
Wealthy countries must take forward and provide debt relief to climate-vulnerable countries like Sierra Leone. This will free up fiscal flexibility for the government to finance other projects.
Just so you’re aware. Sierra Leone’s total public debt in 2020 was Le30.71 trillion (US$3 billion), a percentage of the country’s GDP of 74.24 percent. This sum is greater than the whole government budget for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021.
External debt totalled Le20.05 trillion (about US$1.69 billion), while domestic debt totalled Le10.66 trillion (around US$1.04 billion).
▪ Multilateral and bilateral debts – As of the end of 2020, Sierra Leone owes multilateral creditors 78.4% of its total external debt stock (US$1,538.38 million). In 2020, the total external debt owed to bilateral creditors was US$241.10 million. It was US$219.5 million in 2019. This indicates that by the end of the year, Sierra Leone’s external debt stock was at a record high.
