Sierra Leone Economic Update 2022 : Leveraging SME Financing and Digitization for Inclusive Growth
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has set back the economy and fiscal balances of Sierra Leone, which are now further impacted by the war in Ukraine. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth turned negative in 2020, while the government’s efforts...
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Washington, DC: World Bank
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099150006152211874/P1779940663f6b09308f080e2eaa3e7e4c2 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37651 |
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okr-10986-376512022-07-07T05:10:31Z Sierra Leone Economic Update 2022 : Leveraging SME Financing and Digitization for Inclusive Growth World Bank COVID-19 ARMED CONFLICT REAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT DIGITAL FINANCE SERVICES SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DFS SMEs The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has set back the economy and fiscal balances of Sierra Leone, which are now further impacted by the war in Ukraine. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth turned negative in 2020, while the government’s efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit were undermined by the need for emergency spending. Just when the economy began to recover, the war in Ukraine caused new disruption through sharply higher food and fuel prices. Thus, the authorities face both the short-term challenge of coping with these price shocks while recovering from the pandemic, and the medium-term challenge of renewing fiscal consolidation and promoting higher economic growth. Public finances have deteriorated since the onset of COVID-19. Inflationary pressures have accelerated since mid-2021, driven first by the post-pandemic rebound in consumption, and subsequently by global supply chain disruptions since the onset of the Ukraine war, and depreciation pressures on the Leone. Small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) can be engines of economic growth and job creation,under the right circumstances. Currently, in Sierra Leone, SMEs (along with micro-enterprises) provide livelihoods to approximately 70 percent of the population and represent over 90 percent of the domestic private sector. Access to finance for SMEs and digital finance are priorities for the government. Digital financial services (DFS) are not diversified, and mobile money remains the main driver. The payments infrastructure including the RTGS, ACH and securities settlement system needs to be upgraded. Sierra Leone lacks a modern credit reporting system. Key recommendations for greater SME access to finance are presented in this report. 2022-07-06T23:34:02Z 2022-07-06T23:34:02Z 2022-05-31 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099150006152211874/P1779940663f6b09308f080e2eaa3e7e4c2 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37651 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Report Publications & Research Africa Africa Western and Central (AFW) Africa Sub-Saharan Africa West Africa Sierra Leone |
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Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
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Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
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English |
| topic |
COVID-19 ARMED CONFLICT REAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT DIGITAL FINANCE SERVICES SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DFS SMEs |
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COVID-19 ARMED CONFLICT REAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT DIGITAL FINANCE SERVICES SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DFS SMEs World Bank Sierra Leone Economic Update 2022 : Leveraging SME Financing and Digitization for Inclusive Growth |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Africa Western and Central (AFW) Africa Sub-Saharan Africa West Africa Sierra Leone |
| description |
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
has set back the economy and fiscal balances of Sierra
Leone, which are now further impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth turned negative in
2020, while the government’s efforts to reduce the fiscal
deficit were undermined by the need for emergency spending.
Just when the economy began to recover, the war in Ukraine
caused new disruption through sharply higher food and fuel
prices. Thus, the authorities face both the short-term
challenge of coping with these price shocks while recovering
from the pandemic, and the medium-term challenge of renewing
fiscal consolidation and promoting higher economic growth.
Public finances have deteriorated since the onset of
COVID-19. Inflationary pressures have accelerated since
mid-2021, driven first by the post-pandemic rebound in
consumption, and subsequently by global supply chain
disruptions since the onset of the Ukraine war, and
depreciation pressures on the Leone. Small-and-medium
enterprises (SMEs) can be engines of economic growth and job
creation,under the right circumstances. Currently, in Sierra
Leone, SMEs (along with micro-enterprises) provide
livelihoods to approximately 70 percent of the population
and represent over 90 percent of the domestic private
sector. Access to finance for SMEs and digital finance are
priorities for the government. Digital financial services
(DFS) are not diversified, and mobile money remains the main
driver. The payments infrastructure including the RTGS, ACH
and securities settlement system needs to be upgraded.
Sierra Leone lacks a modern credit reporting system. Key
recommendations for greater SME access to finance are
presented in this report. |
| format |
Report |
| author |
World Bank |
| author_facet |
World Bank |
| author_sort |
World Bank |
| title |
Sierra Leone Economic Update 2022 : Leveraging SME Financing and Digitization for Inclusive Growth |
| title_short |
Sierra Leone Economic Update 2022 : Leveraging SME Financing and Digitization for Inclusive Growth |
| title_full |
Sierra Leone Economic Update 2022 : Leveraging SME Financing and Digitization for Inclusive Growth |
| title_fullStr |
Sierra Leone Economic Update 2022 : Leveraging SME Financing and Digitization for Inclusive Growth |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Sierra Leone Economic Update 2022 : Leveraging SME Financing and Digitization for Inclusive Growth |
| title_sort |
sierra leone economic update 2022 : leveraging sme financing and digitization for inclusive growth |
| publisher |
Washington, DC: World Bank |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099150006152211874/P1779940663f6b09308f080e2eaa3e7e4c2 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37651 |
| _version_ |
1764487609533333504 |