The Public Debt Division of the Ministry of Finance, Monday 29th July 2024, commenced its Annual Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) report writing exercise workshop at Leisure Lodge, 30 off Cape Road, Aberdeen Beach, Freetown.
The Director of the Public Debt Division, Matthew Sandy, in his opening statement, said Debt Sustainability Analysis is an annual requirement to assess Sierra Leone’s level of debt accumulation and risk of debt distress rating in the medium to long term, to provide appropriate policy advice to the government on the status of its borrowing.
He stated that the exercise is to update the National Debt Sustainability Analysis from Medium to Long-Term, projections of the debt stock, and long-run projection of fiscal and macroeconomic fundamentals.
He noted that this year’s workshop is different, because they are using the rebased GDP, noting that GDP is expected to grow around 4%, which indicates that three of the four indicators have improved.
Mr Sandy further stated that if the country can improve the debt service to revenue ratio, it will return to a low risk of Debt distress.
Director Sandy explained that Sierra Leone in the global ranking is not only debt distress, but debt distress forward-looking, and sustainable on one indicator. He furthered that the World Bank has provided technical training in conducting detailed reporting and analysis on debt issues.
A representative from the National Revenue Authority (NRA), Abdulrahim Bangura, said that the authority has been meeting its target in revenue mobilisation, furthering that the authority will continue to improve on the collection of revenue and even try to surpass the stated threshold.
The workshop attracted Civil Society, Representatives from USL, and other MDAs.
