The Minister of Finance, Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, is sleading a high-level delegation from Sierra Leone to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Spring Meetings 2026, in Washington DC.
He is accompanied by senior officials, including the Ministers of Energy and of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, the Financial Secretary, the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, and Chief Economists from both the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Sierra Leone. The meetings, scheduled from April 13 – 18, 2026, will bring together Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors, Development Partners, global investors, civil society representatives, and academics to discuss the state of the global economy and issues of international concern.
The Minister commenced his discussions with the Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD). Minister Bangura, on behalf of President Bio, expressed appreciation to the Director for the technical assistance in support of the FAD across various areas in public financial management – revision of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016, and the Public Procurement Act, 2016, cash management and forecasting, and migration to Government Financial Statistics 2014. The Minister also informed the Director that the Government has been implementing sound economic policies over the last two years that have yielded impressive performance on key macroeconomic fundamentals – low inflation, a stable exchange rate, a positive primary balance, and a sustainable interest rate on government securities. He, however, noted that the recent crisis in the Middle East has the potential to erode recent economic successes.
Minister Bangura further encouraged the FAD to continue supporting the Government in strengthening capacity in the mining sector, particularly on transfer pricing, implementation of advance pricing agreement and safe harbour regime, review of the Income Tax Act, 2000, and Excise Act 1998, and mid-term review of the Medium Term Revenue Strategy 2023-2027.
The Director thanked the Minister for his effective guidance on public financial management in Sierra Leone and affirmed FAD’s ongoing collaboration with the Government, noting the positive consideration of the requests.
The Minister of Finance, Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, also met with the Sierra Leone IMF Country Team to discuss recent economic developments and the potential impact of the Middle East crisis on the economy.
Minister Bangura informed the Mission Chief, Mr Christian Saborowski, that the Government is confronted with a serious shift in the existing framework under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangements with the IMF as a result of the Middle East crisis.
Minister Bangura said the Government has been taking measures to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the economy and enquired about the support that the IMF is considering for developing countries.
Mr Saborowski informed the Minister that the IMF is fully aware of the difficult times developing countries are facing and the potential of the crisis to adversely impact food security and poverty.
The Mission Chief advised that the focus should be on achieving the Quantitative Performance Criteria and Structural Benchmarks under the ECF arrangements by the end of April to ensure the third review is completed in June 2026.
Similarly, the Minister engaged the Executive Director of the Africa West I Constituency of the World Bank Group, Dr Zarau W. Kibwe, where he enquired about the type of Support the World Bank Group is planning to provide to developing countries to mitigate the impact of the crisis.
He further informed the Executive Director that the country portfolio is performing well and discussions are ongoing to utilise the Rapid Response Option (RRO) to mitigate the impact of the Middle East crisis.
Credit: MoF Communications
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