By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
Budget Advocacy Network (BAN), in partnership with the Public Debt Management Division of the Ministry of Finance, last Wednesday concluded training for civil society organisations and the media on public debt management.
The three-day training, which was held at Leisure Lodge, Aberdeen Freetown, was specifically focused on public debt management portfolio.
Public debt management is critical for well-functioning national financial systems and helps to reinforce sound fiscal and monetary policies.
Public debt portfolios, both in terms of their size and composition,have the potential to generate substantial risk to countries’ balance sheets and overall financial stability.
According to the National the Coordinator of BAN, Abu Bakarr Kamara, they are tracking public debt to ensure that the government use borrowed funds responsibly, promote transparency by making complex financial data accessible to the public and enable data evidence-based policy discussions.
He also highlighted in his presentation that monitoring public debt allows people to hold government accountable and provides the public with critical information needed to debate fiscal.
He mentioned that, CSOs should play the watchdog role in the debt management by making sure that they monitor and scrutinize government borrowing, demand transparency and a better fiscal management, raise public awareness on fiscal issues and more.
On the role of the media, Kamara noted that, it was the work of the journalists to uncover hiding details in complex debt reports, translate data into accessible stories and visuals, expose inconsistencies and potential mismanagement and more.
Speaking on behalf of the CSOs that participated in the training, Mohamed Abdulai Fofanah, Head of Programs and Policy at Action Aid Sierra Leone, highlighted the importance of the training, noting that it was very relevant to NGOs because it gives them more knowledge about public debt management and also helped with vital information about the difficulties around debt management.
He said there are sometimes contrasting views on the impact of browning, but through the training, they have gotten a clearer understanding of how to navigate discussions and advocate for responsible browning practices.
Also speaking on behalf of the journalists, Lawrence Williams, Managing Editor of the Fritong Post Newspaper, noted that journalists were happy to have been part of the training.
“The training is special because it focuses specifically on public debt management issues,” he said.
He said during the three-day, they learnt a lot about how are debt portfolio as a country is been managed and the department at the Ministry of Finance that is responsible for the management of debt, and also learnt about how international financial institutions inclining the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others influence debt situation in the country.
He promised that the knowledge they gained from the training will be used for the grater benefit of the country and further called on the Ministry of Finance to take into cognisance the recommendations of the training and ensure that they start to publish full documents about debt management in the country.
