By: Sulaiman Aruna Sesay

The Bank Governor of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ibrahim L. Stevens, assured the general public that very soon mobile network transaction will take effect which will see citizens start enjoying an instant payment system on national switch.

According to him, this development will see citizens start performing transaction across all mobile networks and banks. “In four months’ time citizens should expect an announcement from me,” said the Governor. He added that, the vision of the Bank is to go digital to achieve financial inclusion and a cashless society.

He went further to update the public that the abbreviation for the new Leones is ‘NLe’ locally and internationally it is ‘SLE’. He also said that for historical and accounting purposes the Bank intends to keep the ‘Le’ as a legal abbreviation as the Bank is working on taking an amendment of the Bank’s Act to Parliament in order to retain the ‘Le’ in the Act.

According to Dr. Stevens, they have recovered over 80% of the old Leones and that they are determined to collect the remaining balance by the end of March. He attributed the successful transition to proper planning through stakeholder engagements, in addition to adequate stocking of the new Leones. He assured the public that, even after the deadline, citizens are free to take their old Leones to the Bank of Sierra Leone to exchange to new Leones.

Dr. Steven noted that the exchange rate has stabilized for up to 9 months now and that, the Bank is working hard to manage the exchange rate. He also said, the country is not lagging behind in repayment of foreign debts. He informed the public that the country’s foreign reserve is 3 months of import cover.

The Commissioner General, of the National Revenue Authority, Mrs. Jeneba Kpaka-Bangura said, NRA collected NLe10.1 billion in 2023 from the NLe 10.277 billion target set by IMF which is about 4% short. According to her, this was due to the 2023 General Elections, Curfew, and other security issues mounted in the country at that time. She revealed that Parliament has set NLE14.972 billion as a target for NRA in 2024.

She urged citizens to use the Electronic Cash Register (ECR) in other to collect their GST receipt. She said by collecting receipts from ECR you have ensured your GST payment goes to the Government.