During the closing courtesies of the FY2026 Bilateral Budget Discussions on Saturday, 27 September 2025, the Principal Deputy Financial Secretary (PDFS), Samuel E.B. Momoh, stated that the bilateral budget discussions are part of the process to ensure transparency, accountability, and stakeholders’ participation in the budget preparation process.
He noted that the Ministry will proceed to the budget retreat, where all the figures will be collated to be part of the budget statement that will be presented to Cabinet for approval and enactment by Parliament.
The Director of the Budget Bureau, Tasiima Jah, stated that this year’s discussions were streamlined in line with the Big Five Game Changers, the National Development Plan, and the Theme of Innovative sources of domestic revenue mobilisation strategies.
He commended Ministries, Departments, and Agencies that presented budgets within ceilings and admonished them that this is not the end of the process, noting that further bilateral engagements with certain MDAs will continue during the technical sessions in the retreat.
Director Jah thanked the District Budget Oversight Committee members (DBOCs), Non-State Actors (NSAs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and the Media for their participation to promote accountability and transparency in the process.
To strengthen Revenue mobilisation, the Ministry of Finance, in its presentation, presented a budget estimate of NLE 154,753,00 for its 2026 activities and programmes.
The Acting Director of the Research and Delivery Division, Alhaji Abu Komeh, highlighted the Ministry’s achievements in 2025 which includes; developed and enacted the finance bill 2025 to support domestic revenue mobilization, continue the implementation of the Tax and Duty Exemption Act, 2023, to ensure the rationalization of exemptions, supported the implementation of the Electronic Cash Register (ECR), Excise Tax Stamp, and N-SOFT Software processes for domestic Revenue mobilization.
He also highlighted the publications of the 2025 Annual Borrowing Plan 2025 Quarterly Auction Calendar Q1, Q2, 2025 and SOE Debt Transparency report 2025, the conduct Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) with support from IMF and World Bank, conduct annual Dept Sustainability Analysis (DSA) exercise and updated the Medium Term Debt Strategy, monitored and reported on the IMF Programme targets ahead of the joint first and second reviews of Sierra Leone’s performance under the new ECF Program, monitored the implementation of the development Policy Operation(DPO) for the disbursement of US$ 60 million as direct budget support from world bank etc.
In another development, Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) has presented a budget estimate of 160,001.91 for FY2026 to undertake major road projects, which include Kabala–Falaba, Kainadugu Koidu-Kamiendor, Bonth Township roads, as well as works in Bo City and Kenema.
Engineer Alfred J. Momodu also noted that preparations for the Kambia–Tomparie–Kamakwie road (105 km) and phase two of the bridge projects are underway.
Credit: MOF Communications
