By: Kebba AF Touray
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs has stated that government’s fiscal operations amounted to an overall budget deficit of five billion eight hundred and eighty-seven million seven hundred thousand dalasi (D5,887.7).
The Ministry stated this in the Public Debt Bulletin of 2022, which was recently published by the government.
“In 2022, Government fiscal operations amounted to an overall budget deficit of D5,887.7 million (5 percent of GDP) compared to a deficit of Six Billion Ninety-Four Million Four Hundred Thousand (D6,094.4 million), which is 5.8 percent of GDP in 2021,” said the Ministry.
The Ministry further said that the fiscal balance excluding grants, worsened from a deficit of ten billion five hundred and twenty-five million and three hundred thousand dalasi (D10,525.3million) in 2021 (10 percent of GDP) to twelve billion six hundred and seventy-eight Million one hundred million dalasi (D12,678.1 million), 10.5 percent of GDP in 2022,” the Finance Ministry disclosed.
As reported by the Ministry, the total revenue and grants for the fiscal year, 2022 amounted to twenty-one Billion Two Hundred and Eighty-Six Million and Five Hundred Thousand Dalasi (D21,286.5 million), which is 18 percent of GDP compared to Nineteen Billion Three Hundred and Fifty-Three Million and Two Hundred Thousand Dalasi (D19,353.2 million) in 2021 which represents 18 percent of GDP.
According to the Ministry, the increase of 7.7 percent over the period was due to a significant increase in Grants and a modest increase in tax revenues during the period.
“Total expenditure and net lending for 2022 registered an increase of twenty-seven billion one hundred and seventy-four million and two hundred thousand dalasi (D27,174.2 million), which is 22.5 percent of GDP, compared to twenty-five billion eight hundred and fifty-six million and two hundred thousand (D25,856.2 million), representing 24.6 percent of GDP in 2021. In growth terms, total expenditure rose by 5.1 percent between 2021 and 2022,” said the Finance Ministry.
As interpreted by the Ministry of Finance in the bulletin, this increase is primarily due to increases recorded in both current and capital expenditure, most especially, an increase in externally financed capital expenditure by 15.6 percent over the review period.
“The preliminary balance of payments estimates show a deteriorated current account balance to a deficit of US$102.7 million (5.2 percent of GDP) in 2022 from a deficit of US$86.9 million (4.5 percent of GDP) in 2021, due to the deterioration of the Goods Account, and normalization of the Secondary Income Account (current transfers),” the Ministry concluded.
