PBO DEPARTMENTAL INFORMATION

1. Establishment of the Department (Our History)
The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) was established in 2017, pursuant to Section 13(1) of the Parliamentary Service Act of 2007 following understudy visits made by Members of Parliament (MPs) and Staff to the Parliaments of Uganda and Ghana in 2017, with support of the United Nations Development Programme. The office originally began as a unit under the Parliamentary Finance directorate but became a fully-fledged department in 2021. The department currently has a total of 12 technical staff including Economists, Accountants, Public Financial Management Experts, and business administrators.

2. Vision
The vision of the budget office (PBO) is to be the principal hub for impartial budget, economic and fiscal research, and analysis in strengthening the effectiveness of Parliament’s oversight, legislative and law-making functions in the national budget process.

3. Why we exist/ What we do!
The PBO has a mandate to provide technical support to Members of Parliament (MPs), in the areas of Macro-Economics, Public Financial Management, Accountancy, Taxation, and public policy in the bid of improving the quality of debates and laws enacted.

Simplifying Complexity: documents on budgets, bills, and other related areas brought for parliamentary action are simplified and presented for the easy understanding of MPs

Bill Costing: the department is mandated to do money bill determination and costing and to advise MPs accordingly on the same.

Analytical Reporting : the department provides analytical reports on macroeconomic and fiscal matters as well as specific government programs such as health care, security, education, energy, etc. for parliamentary committees.

Support in Improving the National Budget Process: Through collaborative work with the Committees Department, and selected committees, the department provides training and technical support in the bid of improving the national budget process.

4. Core values/ Guiding Principles
We believe in Team work, transparency and accountability to actualize the goal of the department.

The Parliamentary Budget Office has positioned itself to contribute to the work of Parliament in agreement with a set of core values and principles including:

Independence: We ensure that our work is discharged in a manner that is free from political influence, objectives in its analysis, and unrestricted to be openly communicated to parliament and the public.

Transparency: We strive to ensure that in all we do, our outputs, approaches, and dealings with Members of Parliament, the government, and other parties of interest are done fairly, with good conduct and civility.

Non-Partisanship: We maintain a stance of being unprejudiced and we refuse to condition our work in support of any political affiliation or interests. We endeavor to produce outputs that are acceptable and beneficial to all members of parliament.

Expertise and Dependability: In doing our work, we strive to pursue excellence and use our knowledge and skills to produce an array of high-quality and relevant products for parliament in a timely and reliable manner.

5. Our Services and Key Products
We primarily serve Members of Parliament (MPs), Committees, and Staff of Parliament. We also provide services for Researchers; Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDA). This is especially so at Sub-appropriation hearings but also on an ad-hoc basis at the request of MPs

Our suite of publications includes:
Quarterly Economic and Budget Brief. It is intended to update Members of Parliament (MPs) on recent macroeconomic, fiscal, and budgetary developments. It utilizes published and official data and reports provided by the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Sierra Leone, Statistics Sierra Leone, and where applicable, other institutions.

Quarterly Budget Performance Report: It is intended to update Members of Parliament (MPs) on recent macroeconomic, fiscal, and budgetary developments. It utilizes published and official data and reports provided by the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Sierra Leone, Statistics Sierra Leone, and where applicable, other institutions.

Gender Mainstreaming of the National Budget Report: It is a report which aims to address gender concerns in the national development process to improve the social, legal, political, economic, and cultural condition of the population, particularly marginalized groups. It is designed to be produced once yearly.

Simplified Versions of government policies and presidential speeches

6. Feedback and Responses
We encourage clients to make suggestions, comments, and compliments through our email. The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) Department will ensure confidentiality and privacy in all correspondence.
pbo@parliament.gov.sl
posl2018@gmail.com

7. Departmental Organogram
PBO DEPARTMENTAL
STRUCTURE/ORGANOGRAM

PBO DEPARTMENTAL STRUCTURE-ORGANOGRAM

8. Names of Staff, Designation, Phone number, official email

Quarterly Economic and Budget Brief Aprl-Jun 2023

Quarterly Economic and Budget Brief Jan-Mar 2023

PBO Analysis on the Finance Act 2023

SUMMARY OF THE FISCAL STRATEGY STATEMENT 2024 - 2028

SUMMARY OF THE STATEMENT OF ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL POLICIES- FY 2024

PBO &Committee Workshop On Appropriation Process Report October, 2021

PBO Half-yearly Economic and Budget Brief Jan-Jun 2021

PBO Half-yearly Economic and Budget Brief July-Dec 2021

PBO Report on visit to Uganda March, 2021

PBO staff training courses at IPAM August, 2021

PBO Half-yearly Economic and Budget Brief Jan-Jun 2020

PBO Half-yearly Economic and Budget Brief July-Dec 2020

PBO Report on 5day Workshop August, 2020

PBO Report on one day staff training September, 2020

Sierra Leone District Development Fact Sheets

Quarterly Economic Budget brief June 2019

Budget Brief of Government Expenditure on Selected Sectors (2014-2017)

2023-2024 BUDGET APPROPRIATION QUESTIONNAIRE FOR MDAs

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH ON THE STATE OPENING OF THE 5TH SESSION OF THE 5TH PARLIAMENT, OF THE SECOND REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE-1