Freetown, August 6, 2008 —The World Bank on Wednesday approved a development policy grant of $3 million United States dollars which will provide needed resources to the Government of Sierra Leone to partially compensate for lost revenues resulting from recently reduced tariffs on food and fuel imports in the country.
The grant is part of the Food Price Crisis Response Trust Fund (FPCRTF) approved by the Board of Directors of the World Bank on May 29, 2008, which has already benefited other countries.
The measures supported by this grant are expected to have a significant positive impact on poverty reduction. By helping to create the needed fiscal space to compensate for the lost revenues resulting from the recently reduced tariffs on food and fuel imports in the country, it is anticipated that the action will help mitigate the impact of price increases.
The grant also is expected to contribute to continued basic service delivery for vulnerable groups, notably school children and patients in district hospitals and community health centers.
As a complement to this effort, the World Bank is continuing its support to the government through other funding opportunities to stimulate food production through a combination of agricultural and infrastructural investment projects in the medium term, and to provide additional financing for the IDA-funded National Social Action Project to implement a cash-for-work program under the auspices of the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) as a parallel Food Price Crisis Response Trust Fund operation.
RSS