Sierra Leone’s central bank faces acute shortages in analytical capacity that risk weakening the effectiveness of monetary policy, senior officials said, underscoring structural challenges as the institution seeks to strengthen economic stability.
Officials at the Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) warned during a recent internal retreat that severe understaffing and data constraints were limiting the bank’s ability to assess how policy decisions transmit through the economy.
Robert Dauda Korsu, director of research and statistics at the central bank, said his department operates with just seven staff covering eight major sections, a level he described as “severely constrained” for an institution tasked with providing evidence-based policy advice.
“We are in a research department, and we are supposed to be the intellectual backstop for evidence-based policymaking,” Korsu said, urging the board to address the staffing shortfall. “Without adequate capacity, it becomes difficult to fully understand how our decisions affect the real economy.”
The issue of weak policy transmission featured prominently at the retreat, with officials acknowledging persistent uncertainty over how changes in interest rates influence lending, inflation and broader economic activity.
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According to presentations at the meeting, recent research pointed to “stark limits” in the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission in Sierra Leone’s financial system, highlighting a disconnect between official policy signals and outcomes on the ground.
Progress despite constraints
Despite capacity challenges, the research department reported several advances over the past year aimed at strengthening the central bank’s analytical framework.
In 2025, the Bank of Sierra Leone launched its first inflation expectations survey, a key tool used by many central banks to gauge how households and businesses perceive future price trends.
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Preliminary results showed a close alignment between the bank’s inflation expectations data and official inflation figures published by Statistics Sierra Leone, Korsu said.
“If those preliminary figures hold as official, our Bank of Sierra Leone expectations survey matches the actual inflation results,” he noted, describing the outcome as an encouraging sign for the credibility of the new tool.
Other initiatives included the establishment of a data management committee to improve coordination and quality control, as well as the launch of a joint study with the Banking Supervision Department to analyse the determinants of interest rates in the domestic market.
Staffing and retention challenges
The discussion prompted blunt assessments from senior officials about institutional sustainability.
Moderator Morlai Bangura said the capacity challenge went beyond short-term staffing gaps. “It’s about institutional sustainability and survival,” he said. “We want an institution that can outlive us.”
Central bank Governor Ibrahim L. Stevens acknowledged persistent recruitment failures, attributing them to slow hiring processes and mismatches between institutional needs and staff expectations.
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“We didn’t have a good sense of people we recruited,” Stevens said, adding that some hires expected rapid promotion within a year, complicating retention efforts.
He said the bank was considering a shift toward targeted headhunting of specialists, particularly in areas requiring advanced quantitative and analytical skills.
Board members also stressed the need for improved retention policies and focused recruitment in statistics, mathematics and economic modelling. One board director praised the existing research team as “of very superb and high quality,” while noting that the small size of the unit limited its overall impact.
Data as policy foundation
The retreat concluded with broad agreement that improving data quality and analytical capacity was essential to achieving the central bank’s policy objectives.
“Evidence-based policy starts with the quality of the data,” Bangura said. “Statistics is really the bedrock.”
Governor Stevens echoed that view, saying robust data underpinned every aspect of monetary policy formulation.
“Quality of your data is essential for policy decision. Everything that we do is based on good quality data,” he said, pledging to elevate the department’s work to international standards.
Stevens said the central bank would prioritise policy relevance and practical impact over academic publication, as it seeks to strengthen its credibility and effectiveness.
The discussions highlight growing recognition within the Bank of Sierra Leone that achieving its inflation and stability objectives depends not only on policy tools, but also on the strength of the analytical foundations that guide their use.
