By Amin Kef Sesay
Jacob Jusu Saffa, Minister of Finance will on Friday 24th July 2020 deliver to Parliament the 2020 Financial Year Supplementary Government Budget and Statement of Economic and Financial Policies.
Section 112(1) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone 1991 authorizes the Minister responsible for finance to prepare and lay “before Parliament in each financial year estimates of the revenue and expenditures of Sierra Leone for the next following financial year.” In addition, Sub-Section 3 provides for the Minister to lay before Parliament a supplementary estimate when “the amount of moneys appropriated by the Appropriation Act for any purpose is insufficient or that a need has arisen for expenditure for the purpose for which no amount of money has been appropriated by that Act.”
The reasons for the FY 2020 Supplementary budget cannot be unconnected to the COVID-19 pandemic which has not only affected the country’s economy but also incur extra unbudgeted and unplanned expenditure on the FY 2020 Budget with the theme ‘Fiscal Consolidation for Human Capital Development and Job Creation’ to the COVID-19 that was approved in Parliament.
Section 114(2b) of the Constitution states that: “No moneys shall be expended from the general revenue of the Republic unless the expenditure has been proposed in a supplementary estimate to be approved by Parliament.” It is no secret that the Government of Sierra Leone has received additional resources through grants from international development partners which they need the approval of parliament to spend, so this is expected to be captured in the speech that will be delivered by the Finance Minister.
The Minister is also expected to give global and regional economic outlook in relation to Sierra Leone and the impact of COVID-19 and gains of the Quick Action Economic Response Programme (QAERP) which has the overall goal of maintaining macro-economic and financial stability and mitigates the impact of the COVID-19 shock on businesses and households.
The QAERP comprises five objectives which are: (i) building and maintaining an adequate stock level of essential commodities at stable prices, (ii) providing support to hardest-hit businesses to enable them to continue operations and avert lay-offs of employees, (iii) expand safety nets to venerable groups, (iv) Supporting labor-based public works and (v) providing assistance for the local production and processing of stable food items.
Vote Controllers, Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), State-Owned Enterprises, representatives of Development Partners Institutions, as well as Non-Governmental Organizations, District Budget Oversight Committee members, Local Community representatives, Non-State Actors, other Civil Society Organisations and members of the General Public are expected to witness the proceedings, via live streaming, on all major Television and Radio Stations as well as other Social Media platforms.
