By Nicholas Bass
Opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) National Assembly Member for Serrekunda West Hon Madi Ceesay, has urged the government to cut down civil servants’ allowances to fix an increased budget of D18.5 billion.
He told The Voice in an interview on Thursday that there is a great need to cut down the allowances of civil servants to meet the budget line of 2024.
He added that a chunk of the budget goes into paying salaries, allowances of civil servants, and traveling expenditures.
“When there is a budget deficit the government goes in for loans, and for such to be avoided the government should spend the funds wisely.
If we add more loans we will have a problem in servicing our debts”, Ceesay said.
He revealed that the D30 million that was allocated for the presidential nationwide tour should have been cut down to meet the budget deficit.
He added: “Despite some of the NAMs voting against the allocation of D30 million for the presidential tour, their efforts were fruitless and the issue of debts should be controlled in the country.”
He urged that the government should prioritize investment in the agricultural sector to mitigate high expenditures on the importation of basic goods such as rice, onion, and vegetable oil among many other goods that are imported into the country.