APC Spokesman Decries Gov’t Borrowing

By Lemuella Tarawallie

The All People’s Congress (APC) Parliamentary Spokesperson, Honourable Dr Unpha Sorie Gbassay Koroma, has raised serious concerns over “persistent revenue leakages, increasing domestic borrowing and weak revenue mobilisation”, warning that the trends could undermine Sierra Leone’s economic stability if left unaddressed.

Speaking during the debate on the Supplementary Appropriation Act 2026 in Parliament on Friday 31 July 2026 the Parliamentary opposition spokesperson, who is also representing Western Area Urban in Parliament, said although the country was grappling with difficult global economic conditions, Government must do more to strengthen domestic revenue collection instead of relying heavily on borrowing.

“I want to remind this House that we are in a very difficult time,” he said, acknowledging that rising global prices and inflation had placed additional pressure on the country’s economy and compelled Government to seek supplementary funding.

Hon. Gbassay Koroma recalled that one of the Government’s major objectives was to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation to achieve sustained economic stability. However, he argued that current revenue performance indicated that the country was struggling to meet that objective.

Citing figures contained in the supplementary budget documents, he noted that domestic revenue collected during the first half of 2026 stood at Le10.5 billion, representing 5.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product and falling below the revised target by Le369 million.

He said the Minister of Finance attributed the shortfall to lower than projected collections from the Goods and Services Tax, customs and excise duties, and road user charges.

The opposition lawmaker, however, argued that Parliament must look beyond the figures and address the underlying causes of the revenue shortfall.

Drawing from oversight engagements by parliamentary committees, Hon. Gbassay Koroma questioned why the movement of heavy duty trucks across toll gates and increased commercial activities had not translated into higher government revenue. He further raised concerns over what he described as “possible abuse of the transit cargo system at Sierra Leone’s ports”.

According to him, some importers allegedly declare containers as transit cargo destined for Guinea, paying only transit related charges, but later offload the containers at the Queen Elizabeth II Quay in Freetown instead of transporting them across the border.

He alleged that goods from such containers subsequently enter the Sierra Leonean market without the payment of the full customs duties, depriving the Government of much needed revenue.

Hon. Dr Gbassay Koroma called on the Sierra Leone Ports Authority and the National Revenue Authority (NRA) to investigate the movement of transit containers and tighten monitoring systems to prevent abuse of the free port and transit cargo arrangements.

“The authorities at the ports need to answer to this Government and to this Parliament,” he said, adding that stronger oversight was needed to ensure that containers declared for neighbouring countries genuinely leave Sierra Leone.

Turning to the country’s debt burden, Hon. Dr Gbassay Koroma warned that Government’s growing dependence on domestic borrowing was placing enormous pressure on the private sector.

He argued that commercial banks naturally prefer lending to Government because treasury instruments provided safer and more attractive returns, leaving fewer opportunities for private businesses to access affordable credit.

“When Government borrows more from domestic sources, the private sector suffers,” he said. “Banks are more interested in lending to Government than to businesses.”

According to him, “limited access to finance discourages investment, slows business expansion and weakens job creation, ultimately forcing Government to shoulder an even greater responsibility for employment”.

He described the situation as “a vicious cycle in which increased Government borrowing crowds out private investment, expands the public wage bill and creates additional pressure on the national budget”.

While acknowledging the impact of global economic challenges on Sierra Leone, Hon. Dr Gbassay Koroma urged Government to strengthen revenue collection, eliminate leakages at the ports, improve customs enforcement and adopt policies that promote private sector growth.

He maintained that sustainable economic recovery would depend not only on increased public spending but also on building an economy where businesses could thrive, create jobs and contribute more effectively to domestic revenue mobilisation.