Abdul Rashid Thomas<\/b><\/p>\n
Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>Amidst Sierra Leone\u2019s wild economic changes, where taxes have skyrocketed faster than a caffeinated monkey climbing a tree, there\u2019s a new comedy act in town \u2013 the government\u2019s overseas travel expenses.<\/p>\n Forget stand-up comedians; our leaders are taking centre stage with a wallet-lightening performance that has the public both amused and bewildered.<\/p>\n President Julius Maada Bio seems to be on a mission to collect more passport stamps than a globetrotting flamingo.<\/p>\n In his second term, the overseas travel expenses have shot up like a rocket on caffeine. Now, you might wonder if our president is chasing frequent flyer miles for a secret cosmic vacation club.<\/p>\n World Bank\u2019s warning for the government to curtial unecessary public spending to avoid sending the economy into meltdown, has fallen on deaf ears.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s Annual Financial Report reads like a tragicomedy script. While taxes on essentials are giving citizens financial acrobatics to perform, the government\u2019s overseas travel budget is practicing its own high-flying routine.<\/p>\n President Bio\u2019s government has so far spent over Le180 Billion on overseas traveling. In 2022, he and his government spent Le87, after spending Le21 Billion in 2021, leaving Sierra Leoneans wondering whether the national budget has got wings, they did not know about.<\/p>\n Comparing the numbers is like watching a surreal sitcom. In 2020, the government\u2019s spending on overseas travels was Le27.48 billion.<\/p>\n Finance Minister, Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, recently took the stage in Parliament, expressing his own version of financial stand-up comedy. With a straight face (almost), he highlighted the urgent need for a balanced act between making money and spending it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like advising someone on a tightrope to juggle while tap-dancing \u2013 challenging but supposedly possible.<\/p>\n Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, in his financial comedy routine, stressed that mastering fiscal discipline is the key to turning this economic tragi-comedy into a rom-com.<\/p>\n Imagine Sierra Leone\u2019s economy as a quirky rom-com \u2013 quirky because we didn\u2019t see this twist coming, and rom-com because, well, we\u2019re all in it together, for better or for worse.<\/p>\n So, as we go through this financial funhouse, let\u2019s hope our leaders take a crash course in budgetary slapstick. After all, laughter might be the best medicine, but a well-balanced budget is a close second in these times of economic humour and financial mistakes.<\/p>\n Source: The Sierra Leone Telegraph<\/b><\/p>\n For More News And Analysis About Sierra-Leone<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Abdul Rashid Thomas Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. Amidst Sierra Leone\u2019s wild economic changes, where taxes have skyrocketed faster than a caffeinated monkey climbing a tree, there\u2019s a new comedy act in town \u2013 the government\u2019s overseas travel expenses. Forget stand-up comedians; our leaders are taking centre stage with a wallet-lightening performance that has the public both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":24901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[291,293,292],"class_list":["post-24902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-sierra-leone","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"\n