At its meeting on 30 September, 2024, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Sierra Leone recommended and received the approval of the Board of Directors of the Bank on the same day to increase its monetary policy rates effective 1 October 2024 as follows:
The Monetary policy rate (MPR) to 24.75 %
The standing Lending Facility rate (SLFR) to 27.75%
The Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) to18.25%
The Committee noted that even though global economic conditions, as assessed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are improving -including global headline inflation, global political and military instability poses a serious threat to sustaining that outlook.
With respect to Sierra Leone, the Committee recognised that headline inflation has declined from 54.59% in October 2023 to 25.49% in August 2024, due mainly to the Bank’s tight monetary policy stance. However, the Committee was cautioned by the potential risks posed by global political and military instability, mainly due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the on-going conflict in the Middle East to inflation in Sierra Leone and globally.
The committee was optimistic about the potential for economic growth in Sierra Leone. They recognised that the country’s trade deficit with the rest of the world was reducing, its foreign reserve was growing and the exchange rate of its currency against other major currencies in the world was stable.
In their conclusion, the committee was of the view that thought inflation was declining it was still too high for the people of the country and therefore still adversely affects the prices of goods and services. Because of these factors the committee recommended a continued tight monetary policy stance.
