The Deputy Minister of Finance, Hon. Bockarie Kalokoh has at the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) National Delegates Conference held at the Bintumani Hotel in Freetown, presented his ministry’s four years of economic management from April 2018 to April 2022.

During his presentation, the deputy minister said the ministry continued to implement sound economic policies and public financial management reforms.

He said those reforms focused on maintaining a stable economy and responding to the socio-economic shocks brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Hon. Kalokoh explained that President Bio took over governance of the country under very challenging economic conditions. Real GDP growth was on a downward trajectory decreasing from 6.3 percent in 2016 to 3.7 percent in 2017. Inflationary pressures were high, with the year-on-year inflation at 15 percent at the end of March 2018. In addition, he went on, the fiscal situation was very challenging, with low domestic revenue collection rates amid high Government expenditures resulting in the widening of the budget deficit and the accumulation of arrears to suppliers.

“Since the first year of office, under the New Direction, the Ministry of Finance has and continues to implement impressive measures. These measures aim to correct inherited fiscal slippages, restore macroeconomic stability, and directly finance critical programmes and projects with life-changing implications for millions of Sierra Leoneans and future generations. To this end, the Ministry pursued aggressive fiscal consolidation focusing mainly on enhancing domestic revenue mobilisation and expenditure rationalisation, greater private sector and Development Partner engagement underpinned by transparency and accountability” he claimed.