By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The newly-appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ibrahim Stevens has noted that part of his responsibility is to maintain monetary stability and address inflation in the country.
He was speaking in a media interview on the 22nd November, 2023 discussing the stipulated dates to cease using the Old Leone notes as a Legal tender in Sierra Leone.
He explained how over the years, his colleagues have been making media tours discussing how the Bank operates for people to have an idea of its operations.
He said when there is an increase in interest rate; it means that prices will increase, so they decide to control monetary growth which is the amount of money in circulation. He stated that when too much money is in circulation, it will make the demand for certain things increase.
“This part of our work is something we can’t do alone, we are doing it with the Ministry of Finance which we described as Fiscal Policy,” he said.
Dr. Stevens noted that since he was Acting Bank Governor six months ago, he has been working closely together with the Minister of Finance to achieve macroeconomic stability.
He reiterated that they are in a very challenging environment where inflation is high and they need to work very hard to put it down. He said, they are in a very interesting stage in the financial sector development, but as the banks continue to do more banking activities, the process of determining rates will become straight and they will follow with the policy signal the central bank will be sending. He added that for the banks to determine the rates, they should have a good portfolio of their activities so that they will lend and do other placements.
He pointed out that there has been an announcement since March this year that come December 31st, 2023, the old Leone will stop being a legal tender in the country. He assured that although the money would stop circulating, no one would lose their money or its value.
He said from 1st January 2024 to 31st March, everyone is entitled to carry their money to the central bank, commercial banks, and micro-finance institutions and will still have the face value of what will be deposited.
“This means that if you deposit 10, 000 (ten thousand) old Leones, you will still have the same value in the New Leone,” he said.
Dr. Stevens has served as Deputy Bank Governor since 2014 and was Acting Governor for six months before his latest confirmation. He succeeds Professor Kelfala M. Kallon.
Copyright (c) 2023 Politico (24/11/23)
