The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has put the world economy into distress. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 hit when the Sierra Leone budget was barely a month into implementation. The government’s inability to spend and the lockdown measures have negatively impacted the country’s economy. Critical sectors such as trade, mining, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, and tourism are experiencing the largest decline due to the lockdown and less foreign direct investment.

Considering the Sierra Leone economy’s fragility due to the past Ebola outbreak, which left the country with a weak public healthcare system and a huge debt burden, the government has taken some measures to minimize the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. They developed a supplementary budget to reflect the present realities, such as revenue loss and increased public debt. The budget reflects the government’s short term Quick Action Economic Response Programme (QAERP) to the COVID-19 pandemic. This document illustrates how the government intends to support its citizens during these difficult times.