SIERRA LEONE – UPDATES FROM THE INSTANBUL PRIORITY AREAS OF ACTION

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OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION�Recent Developments�Istanbul Priority Areas of Action�Poverty Levels�Agenda for Prosperity�Challenges�Conclusion

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Recent Economic Development

� There has been strong economic growth over the last five years despite the global financial crisis of 2008/09.� Real GDP growth has been impressive

� Real GDP averages 8.2 percent (2008-2012)� Compared to 7.9 percent (2003-2007)

� Agriculture, Manufacturing, services, construction, and mining contributed to this growth.

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Recent Economic Development

� Inflation has been challenging but experienced a downward trend reaching 11.4 percent in December 2012. The aim is to achieve single digit inflation in 2013� Exchange rate has also bee relatively stable and

remained market determined. In a year-on-year basis, the Leone appreciated against the US$ in 2012.

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Recent Economic Development• Fiscal performance has been impressive over

the years. • Domestic revenue has increased from 8.9

percent of GDP in 2007 to 12.2 percent in 2012

• Expenditure has also increased from 13.2 percent of GDP in 2007 to 21.9 percent of GDP in 2012. the increase in expenditure is as a result of massive investment in infrastructure.

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Recent Economic Development� Export values increased to $953 million in 2012

from $280.5 million in 2007, mainly as a result of the developments in the mining sectors.� However, imports also increased from $385.6

million in 2007 to $1.6 billion in 2012. This huge import bill was a result of the importation of capital and machinery equipment.

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Recent Economic Development• Commercial banks savings rate remained

unchanged at 6.42 percent.• Gross reserves as at end December amounted

to $420.72 million (2.8 months of imports)

• Government debt as a percentage of GDP has been reducing in the past three years from 62.6 percent in 2010 to 38.8 percent in 2012

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Istanbul Priority Areas of ActionPRODUCTIVE CAPACITY� Infrastructure� Rehabilitation of roads in district headquarters and

Freetown� Science, Technology and Innovation� Prioritising Science, Math and Technology at all

levels for both girls and boys� Private Sector Development� The legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks

that underpin private-sector-led growth have been strengthened

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Istanbul Priority Areas of ActionPRODUCTIVE CAPACITY� Agriculture, Food Security and Rural Development� Increase farmers’ access to agricultural inputs � Trade� Many institutional/legislative/policy improvements

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Istanbul Priority Areas of ActionHUMAN AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT� Education and training� Improve education access, completion, and equity of

opportunities

� Population and primary health� Free Health Care Initiative

� Youth Development� Scale up the existing National Youth Programme to

create jobs for young people across the country

� Water and Sanitation� Rehabilitation of pipe borne water supply system in all

district headquarter towns and Freetown 10

Istanbul Priority of ActionHUMAN AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT� Gender Equality and empowerment of women� Government legislation to address gender equality� Domestic Violence Act 2007� Devolution of Estates Act 2007� Child Rights Act 2007

� Social Protection� National Social Protection Policy to strengthen the

social protection delivery system, and to ensure the most poor and vulnerable are afforded an equal opportunity to access basic services and mitigate risks

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Istanbul Priority Areas of ActionMULTIPLE CRISES AND OTHER EMERGING

CHALLENGES

� Economic shocks

� Increase in the price of food and fuel

� Climate change and environment sustainability

� Enactment of the Environment Protection Agency Act, 2008.

� Disaster Risk Reduction

� The Office of National Security ensures effective coordination and management of disasters.

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Istanbul Priority Areas of Action� MOBILIZING FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR

DEVELOOMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING� Domestic resource mobilization� Increase in domestic revenue mobilization over the last five

years� Official Development Assistance� Budget support and Project loans and grants

� External Debt� The enactment of the Public Debt Management Act 2011

provides a framework for debt management in the country. � Foreign Direct Investment� Foreign Direct Investment has been increasing over the last

three years due mainly to the developments in the mining sector.

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Istanbul Priority Areas of Action� MOBILIZING FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR

DEVELOOMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING� Remittances� Remittances continue to play an important role in the

financial sector even though this sector was seriously affected by the global financial and economic crisis.

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Istanbul Priority Areas of ActionGOOD GOVERNANCE AT ALL LEVELS� Government recognises that to achieve economic and

social development, strengthening good governance plays a key role, particularly in mobilizing human and capital resources efficiently and effectively. It has been putting modalities in place to establish stable and reliable governance structures. In the next five years, Government will continue to promote initiatives to strengthen governance structures and to address bottlenecks in implementing good governance.

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Poverty Levels� The strong growth of the economy during the post

conflict period translated into a reduction in the incidence of poverty in the country. The 2011 Sierra Leone Integrated Household Survey estimated that 52.9 percent of the population is poor compared to 66.4 percent in 2003.

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Agenda for Prosperity� Sierra Leone’s Vision for 2013 to 2035 is to become

a middle-income country. It would be an inclusive, green country, with 80% of the population above the poverty line. It would have gender equality, a well-educated, healthy population, good governance and rule of law, well-developed infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, with private-sector, export-led growth generating wide employment opportunities; there would be good environmental protection, and responsible natural resource exploitation

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Agenda for Prosperity Pillars� Pillar 1: Economic Diversification� Pillar 2: Managing Natural Resources� Pillar 3: Human Development� Pillar 4: International Competitiveness� Pillar 5: Employment and Labour Strategy� Pillar 6: Social Protection� Pillar 7: Governance and Public Sector Reform� Pillar 8: Gender and Women’s Empowerment

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Challenges� Slow growth in the developed world and

emerging economies� Delay in the disbursement of external budget

support

� Fluctuations in export commodity prices� Regional instability

� Dutch disease

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Conclusion� Sierra Leone is committed to making progress

towards the Istanbul Priority Areas of Action� Government is also committed to making substantial

progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals� Sierra Leone is on the path of sustained economic

growth and the first step in our effort to attain middle income country status in 2035 is articulated in the Agenda for Prosperity.

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