By: Binta Jaiteh
The Finance and Economic Affairs Minister, Seedy Keita, last Friday told lawmakers that the Tourism Diversification & Resilience Project is expected to revitalize the tourism sector.
The finance minister made this disclosure whilst presenting the 2025 budget adding that the Ministry of Tourism’s budget increased by 17% compared to the approved D46.19 million in 2024. “A key area of expenditure is personnel emoluments for subvention which increased by 55% to D22 million.”
“The Ministry of Defense budget also increased by 17% compared to the approved budget for 2024. Key to this increase is the D100 million budgeted for the soon-to-be effective terms and conditions of service (TACOS) of the armed forces,” he asserted.
However, food and food services for the Army (D150 million), remained the same as the 2024 approved, an amount of D13.65 million has also been allocated for the operation and maintenance of boats for the armed forces.
He further disclosed that funds amounting to D24.40 million have been set aside for the renovation of some military barracks in the 2025 budget.
Minister Keita also told lawmakers that the Ministry of Interior’s budget has increased from D1.61 billion in 2024 to D1.91 billion in 2025 which is equivalent to a 19% increase; a large share (approximately 125%) of the MoI’s budget is directed towards taking care of personnel expenses.
“Food and Food services are also significant, amounting to D121.70 million. About 57% of the amount budgeted for Food under this Ministry is for the Police, while D50 million is for the Prisons. An amount of D27 million has also been allocated for passports while an additional 10 million is set aside for the construction of police stations, posts and subvention to the Drug Law Enforcement Agency also amounts to D162.28 million.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget increased by 9%, moving from D1.79 billion in 2024 to D1.95 billion in 2025, largely as a result of the expected increase of D253.88 million in Personnel Emoluments. The MoFA budget also contains D50 million for post-OIC activities and caters to Embassy rents, which amounts to D356.94 million. The budget also allocates D74.34 million for the purchase of vehicles for some embassies (Washington, Paris, Jeddah, Rabat, Havana, Pretoria, Beijing, Moscow, and the new embassies). The sum of D10 million is also set aside for the construction of a new Chancery in Dakar,” Keita maintained.
According to Keita, the budget for the Ministry of Finance for 2025 is D2.41 billion, indicating an increase of 23% compared to 2024. He added that this increase is partly driven by subventions to agencies, which increased by 7%, to D1.13 billion. “Other key items include the inclusion of a D70.38 million (a 6% increase) for Application Software Systems and License software to support the IFMIS and to improve financial management.”
He elaborated that the internal audit directorate has a D55.70 million budget which represents a 9.8% increase in comparison to the approved budget for 2024. MoFEA’sbudget also includes D250 million for Equity participation and D313.73 million for the PAMP.
“Ministry of Lands and Regional Governments (MoLRG) budget is D389.18 million and is increased by 2% (i.e. D7.55 million) compared to 2024. Despite the marginal increase, it includes a budget of D25 million for the ongoing commission of inquiry into local Government councils and D35 million as contributions towards the local projects,” he asserted.
He revealed that the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST), has an estimated budget of D405.62 million, which is an increment of 69% in 2024. MoHERST’s budget includes D100 million as subventions to tertiary institutions, D150.95 million as open scholarships, D40 million as contributions to the student loan scheme, D20 million for the GTSC’s school bus service, D15 million as bursaries to students, and D5 million for operationalization of the research and innovation fund.
He outlined that the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) budget for 2025 is D5.08 billion. This he said represents an increase of 21% on the 2024 budget. “A significant portion of this increase comes from Subventions and Personnel Emoluments, which increased by D433.53 million and D170 million respectively. Other key items on MoBSE’s 2025 budget include the school improvement grant (D288.49 million), Fees and Handling charges (D170 million), and School feeding (D166.1 million). The Fees and Handling charges are intended to cover WAEC fees. The Ministry’s budget also includes a budget of D114.78 million for the PAMP.
