Working visit of World Bank Country Director |02 March 2022
The team from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade during the working session with the World Bank Country Director on Monday
‘Welfare programme will be implemented in phases’ – Minister Hassan
The country’s ongoing welfare programme supported financially by the World Bank is to ensure that Seychelles has an effective and targeted welfare system which will really meet the needs of the vulnerable.
This programme, which will be done and implemented in phases, will last for the next two years.
This was said by the Minister for Finance, Economic Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan, when meeting with the press yesterday to give on overview of the working session between the World Bank Country Director, Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, and high officials from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade, headed by himself. The working session took place on Monday.
“This was the first visit of the Country director to the Seychelles and to the President also. The meeting was the opportunity to give an overview of the work done by the World Bank with Seychelles. We have been looking at the different challenges that we face at this moment and what assistance the World Bank can bring to the country in dealing with various challenges. The key areas of discussions were on the issues of economic challenges given that the country has gone through the pandemic for the last two years,” Minister Hassan explained.
“Now just as we started the recovery process, comes the crisis in Ukraine, the different impact on the economy such as tourism arrivals and increase in price. The cost of fuel has also increased in the last few days and we really need to look at the impact on the most vulnerable group of the society. The World Bank will assist us on this assignment,” he added.
The second issue that was discussed was the ongoing welfare programme which is supported financially by the World Bank to ensure that Seychelles has an effective and targeted welfare system which will really meet the needs of the vulnerable. The welfare program will be done in phases and will be implemented also in phases.
Minister Hassan said at this point in time, the population is urged to prioritise our expenditures. “The global economic environment will change and we will face an increase in prices. The projection made end last year will have to be revised as this new development will impact the tourism industry. The increase in prices will also have a major impact on our projection. The price of freight also is still high and this is not helping. The government is seriously looking into the low-income group and how badly impacted they will be,” Minister Hassan said.
An increase in salary, explained the minister, will impact the parameters already set as the government will have to spend more.
“There is a discussion with the International Monetary Fund/ World Bank and the government of Seychelles to review these parameters and give us more room to address all these issues. When we set the parameters before, the war was not in the picture and unfortunately this will influence all aspects of our programmes.”
Minister Hassan advised the population not to be ‘afraid’ or start panic buying as there are strategies in place to ensure that essentials good are available in the country.
“This morning I chaired a meeting with Seypec, STC and other main providers and they assured me that the goods are available. Given the situation, of course there will be an increase in price and the most important thing right now is to prioritise our expenditure. Let us spend on things really important for us. In January and February 2022, we were performing well economically and we are sad about this current situation. We just have to be cautious and prioritise.”
Vidya Gappy