By Lawrence Williams
A Fritong Post analysis of government budget statements shows that the country’s total stock of public debt increased by about 45.5% over a 7-year period, up from US$2.2 billion in June 2018 to US$3.2 billion in June 2025.
While external debt increased by 20%, from US$1.5 billion to US$1.8 billion, domestic debt more than doubled during the same period, jumping from US$655.3 million to US$1.4 billion, representing an increase of 114 percent.
These figures show that domestic debt is rising at a much faster rate than external debt. In absolute terms, domestic debt increased by US$744.7 million, substantially higher than the US$300 million uptick observed in external debt obligations. Additionally, the growth rate of domestic debt (114%) was over five times the growth rate of external debt (20%).
The rise in domestic debt could be attributed to excessive government borrowing at high interest rates from commercial banks. According to the Sierra Leone Economic Update of November 2025, almost 45% of commercial banks’ assets are invested in government securities.
Further analysis indicates that the debt per capita has significantly increased from US$292 per person in 2018 (when the total debt was US$2.2 billion) to approximately US$424 per person in 2025. This figure is calculated by dividing the debt portfolio for each period by the total population size of the 2021 mid-term census.
Presenting the FY2026 budget to parliament last Friday, Finance Minister Sheku Ahmed Fantamdi Bangura acknowledged the need for stronger debt management and disciplined spending.
The World Bank had earlier warned that maintaining macroeconomic stability could prove very challenging for the state if borrowing is not controlled.
According to the minister, total debt service payments for FY2026 will amount to NLe 8.6 billion (about US$374.7 million), with interest on domestic debt alone costing the government up to NLe 6.4 billion (around US$278.8 million). This highlights the growing pressure on government finances as more revenue will be channelled toward debt repayment.
The high cost of servicing debt, experts say, limits how much money the government can spend on development programmes such as education, health and infrastructure. The minister stressed that they would improve on revenue collection and expenditure management to prevent the debt burden from increasing further.
