One of Sierra Leone’s credible and formidable Civil Society Organisation, Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) with speciality in budget analysis, open budget and transparency has published its analysis of the 2025 Budget presented by the Minister of Finance to Parliament.
In their analysis, BAN explained that half of the money spent on overseas travel by the government of President Bio, can take care of Free Health Care Drugs, Amulances and the whole recurrent expenditure of Ministries of Social Welfare and Youth.
“If overseas travel expenses incurred in 2023 (NLe 191.8 million) alone is reduced by half, it will take care of the entire budget for free health care drugs, ambulance services, entire recurrent budget allocation for the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Youth Affairs for 2025,” BAN explained.
That while they (BAN) acknowledge some efforts by the government to increase domestic revenue, they are equally concerned with the growing projected increase in the overall budget deficit, including grants from NLe 2.7 billion in 2024 to NLe 7.5 billion in 2025.
That the continued widening in the overall deficit speaks to the fact that the government is spending far more than its domestic revenue and grants, thus resulting in heavy borrowing from the domestic market, which also continues to affect the fiscal space for the government to invest in public services.
“Domestic interest payments alone account for 38% of the projected domestic revenue.To reduce the deficit, among other things, the government should prioritise expenditures by focusing on essential services such as healthcare, education, etc., while cutting unnecessary or low-priority spending, introduce effective government to reduce the cost of stationery, reduce expenditure on overseas travel, and streamline institutions, thereby reducing duplicity,” BAN noted.
BAN called on the government to phase out the recruitment of other sectors in the medium terms besides health and education to reduce the deficit.
