By Foday Moriba Conteh
Prince Macaulay, Sierra Leone’s finest Economist has given words of advice to the Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa for his resilience in managing the State finances.
According to Prince Macaulay, the Minister is a seasoned financial expert who has a wealth of experience in financial, economic and related matters, adding that he is also a politician worth his salt. His prudent financial discipline yielded fruits when on Friday, 13th November 2020, the Bill entitled “The Appropriation Act 2021” being an Act to authorize expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the services of Sierra Leone for 2021 was tabled, and based on his presentation before the House, the Government Budget and Statement of Economic and Financial Policies, including the Coronavirus (COVID-19) information were well received as part of the 2021 Budget and approved.
Macauley noted that Minister Saffa’s wise counsel culminated in actions taken before Sierra Leone recorded its COVID-19 index case on 30th March 2020, resulting in the COVID-19 Health Preparedness and Response Plan, which focused on SAVING LIVES and to cushion the impact of the disease on the private sector and the masses, the Quick Action Economic Response Programme (QAERP) was borne, which focused on SAVING LIVELIHOODS.
Impressed by this action, donor partners commended the Government’s effort at addressing the negative impact on the lives of its citizens by the virus. This resulted in more assistance from them. It should be noted that donor partners do not simply come in to support any country without observing their plans. Thus having seen the marvellous plans designed by the Government and undertaken, they then joined the band wagon, supporting financially the Government’s quick economic recovery plan.
It should be noted that the implementation of these two response programmes, with new priorities, necessitated additional Government spending and compelled our development partners to reprioritize, reallocate and scale up financial support. Hence, there was a need for a Supplementary Budget, which the Minister of Finance, presented to Parliament on 24th July. 2020.
Prince Macaulay further maintained that the exemplary work of the Minister, even in the midst of COVID-19 and all its accompanying challenges, saw 112 of the 159 commitments in the original 2020 Budget being either completed or are on track to be completed by the planned dates; and that 25 of the 28 commitments in the Supplementary Budget have either been completed or on track for delivery.
