Finance Minister Presents 2025 Budget to Parliament for Review
By Musa Paul Feika
The country Minister of Finance, Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, has on Friday, November 15, 2024 presented the budget for the Fiscal Year 2025 with NLe 18.9billion projected domestic revenue generation.
The said budget is to be thorough scrutinising by the lawmakers before the allocation of budget to the various Ministries Department and Agencies MADs.
According to Minister Bangura, the amount will contribute 9.8 percent into the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and that it will also improve income tax generation to about NLe6.7 billion.
For goods and services tax (GST), he said it is estimated to raised about NLe4.3 billion, exercise duties will be around NLe4.1billion and NLe1.1 billion for royalties and liceinec. He added that with the FY2025 budget, parastatal dividends will be NLe171.7 million, noting that revenue from other Governmental departments including treasury single account (TSA) agencies and royalty on timber exports will amount to NLe1.8 billion.
“Total expenditure and net lending for the 2025 fiscal year is projected at NLe35.3 billion (18.3 percent of GDP)” Mr. Bangura pointed out, that the total expenditure, recurrent expenditures are projected at NLe22.1 billion which is 11.4 percent of GDP and capital expenditures and net lending are projected at NLe13.0 billion (6.7 percent of GDP).
According to him, the capital expenditure would be around NLe11.7 billion and capital transfers for the recapitalisation of the Bank of Sierra Leone BSL is NLe1.3 billion.
Debt Service Payments, Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura maintained that the total interest payments are projected at NLe7.4 billion in 2025 (3.8 percent of GDP).
Of this, the minister said interest payments on domestic debt will amount to NLe7.1 billion, and on external debt, NLe319.0 million. “The principal repayments on external debts (amortisation) will amount to NLe1.9 billion,” he added.
He emphasised that road user charges and vehicle licences will contribute NLe249.1 million to domestic revenue in 2025.
Speaking about Feed Salone Programme, the minister stated that there has been reduction of importation of basic food items, including a 16 percent reduction in rice imports, 34 percent decrease in onion imports, 13percent reduction in chicken imports, and 25 percent decrease in egg imports.
On machinery, he said the government have distributed 200 rice mills, 142 rice threshers, 144 combine harvesters and 3 landing crafts to farmers across the country.
Among other things, he noted that the health, infrastructure, human capital development (education), employment.
