The government needs US$60 million to print new Somali currency says federal finance ministry

Federal Finance Minister Dr. Abdirahman Duale Beileh speaking to the press in his office during his monthly public briefing on the achievements of his ministry. Photo credit: Dr. Beileh Twitter Account.

The Somali federal ministry today announced that the government needs US$60 million in order to print new Somali currency to replace the old dilapidated notes currently circulating in the local markets.

Speaking to the media, finance minister Abdirahman Duale Beyle noted the enormous task to overcome to produce new notes.

“It is not a simple task to restore the currency of a country after losing it for a long time though a lot have been done a lot on the way and now we are at the final stages” said Minister Beyle.

In order to realize the project, the government has resorted to the assistance of an international financial institution to meet the expenses required.

“We are working in collaboration with the World Bank and we agreed on the expenses to produce new currency. The problem is the printing work which needs constant expenses around US$ 40-50 million. The project is being worked on by the IMF and in the coming months, the new money will printed God willing” minister beyle said

The minister also read out the monthly expenses the different government sectors needs including the civil servants, the military and government operations.

“We have monthly expenses of the civil servants which stand at US$6 million. The armed forces also need another US$6 million but the government operations are higher reaching around US$20 million” he said.

This is totally in sharp contrast to the monthly income received by the government through local taxation from the Mogadishu port and the Aden Abdulle airport according to the Minister Beyle.

“In average, what we need monthly is US20 million. What we actually get as an income is merely US$11million per month from the sea and air ports. Last year, the deficit was filled by Saudi government and Turkey donated partially” lamented Minister Beyle.

The minister openly stated that last year the government has paid little amount of its foreign debt without incurring a new one and his ministry struggled to keep the country in stable condition of meeting the national budget expenses.

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