By Mohamed Konneh
The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED) has defended a recurrent expenditure proposal of NLe 40.7 million for FY2027, more than double the budget ceiling set by the Ministry of Finance, even as it unveiled twelve ambitious deliverables aimed at repositioning Sierra Leone’s development planning and aid coordination.
The figures were presented during the ongoing bilateral budget hearings at the Miata Conference Centre, Freetown, where MoPED, as the coordinator of the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2024-2030, is expected to lead by example in fiscal discipline.
According to the slide presented, MoPED’s total recurrent request stands at NLe 40,734,424, against a Ministry of Finance ceiling of NLe 17,637,500 for recurrent expenditure. This leaves an excess of over NLe 23 million – representing an overrun of about 131% above ceiling. Budget analysts say this is one of the largest recurrent overruns so far in this year’s hearings.
The breakdown of the NLe 40.7 million covers critical administrative and operational lines – labelled A to M – including travel, administrative costs, DEPAC meetings, monitoring and evaluation activities, and operational costs for development coordination. The largest single line items are NLe 11.4 million, NLe 9.6 million and NLe 4.1 million, which insiders say relate to national development planning activities, donor coordination and monitoring of the MTNDP.
What is MoPED planning to do with this money? The Ministry earlier presented twelve key deliverables for FY2027, which it says justify the increase.
First, on investment promotion, MoPED will develop and package ten bankable, investment-ready national projects for promotion at national and international forums. The Ministry argues that preparing bankable feasibility studies, investor pitch decks and roadshows requires significant travel, consultancy and administrative resources – hence the high recurrent cost.
Second, the Ministry will develop and operationalize the Public Investment Management Information System (PIMIS) across all MDAs and 22 Local Councils. PIMIS, supported by the World Bank, is meant to digitize how Sierra Leone appraises, approves and monitors all capital projects. MoPED officials said rolling out PIMIS nationwide will require training, ICT equipment and field support.
Third, MoPED will review and align all priority sector strategic plans with the MTNDP 2024-2030 and its financing frameworks. The Ministry said many MDAs still operate with outdated plans not linked to the national plan, affecting donor alignment.
Climate resilience is also featured. The Ministry plans to develop and roll out a climate-smart asset maintenance planning framework for Local Councils, with World Bank funding, to help councils maintain infrastructure under climate stress.
On aid coordination – MoPED’s core mandate – the Ministry will convene one Presidential DEPAC and three Ministerial DEPAC meetings, publish the 2026 Development Assistance Report (DAR), and conduct a comprehensive donor mapping and harmonization exercise. Officials argued that convening DEPAC and producing the DAR involves extensive data collection from over 50 development partners and field validation.
For NGO regulation, MoPED will digitize the NGO Service-Level Agreement (SLA) application and approval process, moving from manual to an e-platform to improve transparency.
Regionally, the Ministry will establish implementation arrangements for the ECOWAS Stabilisation and Development Fund, and roll out the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Strategic Plan.
Finally, in line with new laws, MoPED will operationalize the Resettlement Regulations under Section 40 of the Resettlement Act 2023, supported by MCC, and develop resettlement compensation frameworks and guidelines for project-affected persons.
Responding to questions from Finance officials on the overrun, MoPED is understood to have argued that its mandate has expanded significantly since it took over coordination of the MTNDP, NGO affairs, resettlement and South-South cooperation, but its ceiling has remained largely static. The Ministry also noted that many of its activities – DEPAC, DAR, donor mapping – are recurrent in nature but critical for unlocking hundreds of millions of dollars in donor funding.
Ministry of Finance officials, however, maintained that fiscal space remains extremely tight and all MDAs must live within ceilings or propose realistic cost-saving measures. MoF is expected to trim MoPED’s recurrent budget back to around NLe 17-20 million range, which means the Ministry may have to prioritize only a few of its twelve deliverables.
If approved, MoPED’s work programme for 2027 could improve public investment efficiency and donor confidence, but the huge gap between its ask and the ceiling shows the difficult balancing act government faces – between ambitious development coordination and harsh fiscal realities.
