The 10th of July 2024 marks one year since President Dr Julius Maada Bio appointed Matthew Dingie as Financial Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
In what he described as a tough and long year, the seasoned professional acknowledges the support of his colleagues at the Ministry to have been able to sail through.
He stated that with support from the leadership, management and staff, the Ministry of Finance has stabilised the economic situation and set a good foundation for economic recovery in the coming years, with inflation coming down from 54% in June 2023 to 35% in May 2024, the exchange rate has now been stable since October 2023 to date. Interest rates, he says, remain high with a prospect of a 4% growth in the economy this year.
In addition, the FS stated that the Ministry successfully concluded the 8th and final review of the IMF’s ECF program in November last year, which saw the IMF disburse over $22 million as direct budget support, also met all the World Bank DPO triggers which were almost off track by July 2023 and the bank disbursed in full the sum of $65 million in December 2023.
Recently, in April 2024, Mr Dingie and the Minister of Finance played critical roles in the successful conclusions of the MCC negotiations for Sierra Leone, which saw the MCC board approve the compact for Sierra Leone for $480 million in June 2023 and in the same month of June mobilised over $800 million in pledges at the round table in Vienna, Austria to support private and public sector investment in renewable energy and agriculture.
“Our end June 2024 preliminary fiscal and monetary performance also shows that we have met all three prior actions for a successor IMF program, which the board of the IMF will consider and approve in October 2024 following technical negotiations in August and September. The new program will make us eligible and qualify for the IMF’s Resilient Sustainability Trust program, which the board will also approve in February 2025. Both programs will make us eligible for disbursements, totalling over $480 million in 36 months of program implementation.” he added
Matthew Dingie further stated that the Ministry of Finance is now discussing with the World Bank for a $65 million budget support for 2024 and also in engagement with the EU for budget support in 2024-2026.
The dynamic Financial Secretary attributed all these achievements in just one year to the support and commitment to the work of the Ministry of Finance, stating that there’s still a lot to be done to crystallise these commitments and minimise any potential risks of slippages to our macroeconomic indicators.
He thanked His Excellency the President for giving him the opportunity and the confidence bestowed to serve in this position at such a crucial time in our country’s economy and also the Hon Vice President and Chief Minister, all of whom he described as great support pillars over the past year.
He thanked his colleagues in the leadership, the Hon Minister, and his able deputies, the Principal Deputy Financial Secretary, the Accountant General, the Chief Economist and the Senior Deputy Financial Secretary and all Directors and Heads of Divisions of the Ministry of Finance.
Credit – MOF Communications
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Friday, July 12th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)