Sierra Leone's government ran a cash deficit of 7.1bn SLE (€277mn) in the first nine months of 2026, 61.7% more than the 4.4bn SLE budgeted for the whole year, the finance ministry's September fiscal report shows. Spending on goods and services reached 133% of its annual allocation and transfers to agencies 216%, while only 37% of the capital budget had been spent.
Analysis: The main shortfall is in receipts rather than overall expenditure: revenue and grants reached only 57.6% of their annual budget, compared with 73.4% for payments, by our calculation. Spending on goods, services and transfers ran ahead of plan while capital projects lagged. The reported deficit also exceeds the 2.8%-of-GDP objective in July's supplementary budget, although the budget and cash statement may treat donor-funded projects differently. Published financing entries do not explain how the entire gap was covered. Suppliers and lenders face uncertainty pending the next fiscal report and the 2027 budget.
Source: Ministry of Finance, Sierra Leone, Ministry of Finance, Statement of Fiscal Operations (Consolidated Fund) for the month ended 30th September 2026 (The Fiscal Report for September 2026), January-September 2026 and FY2026 (budget column); Ministry of Finance, Sierra Leone, Ministry of Finance, Statement of Fiscal Operations (Consolidated Fund) for the month ended 30 September 2025, January-September 2025; Bank of Sierra Leone, Bank of Sierra Leone, Monetary Policy Report, September 2026, Q2 2026; Premier Media, FY2026 Supplementary Budget statement to Parliament (31 July 2026), as reported by Premier News, FY2026; International Monetary Fund, IMF Country Report No. 26/168, Table 1, 2026