Ouagadougou – Burkina Faso President, Roch Kabore, has expressed concern over the country’s financial status, urging the finance ministry to review revenue collection methods.
Kabore said this when he was in the country’s second largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso, during presentation of his scorecard after serving the first 100 days.
“The public treasury has continuously faced difficulties.
“The country is constantly facing shortage of funds and that is why we have urged the finance ministry to review revenue collection methods so that we can improve our internal funds.
“We should work toward achieving self-sufficiency and better performance in terms of investment and reinforcement of key structures that will enable us to develop our economy both in the short term and long term.
“We should depend on ourselves before expecting others to help us,’’ he stressed.
Kabore was elected in the first round of presidential elections held on Nov. 29, 2015 with 53.63 per cent of the votes cast.
The elections brought to an end a 13-month political transition that began after a popular uprising that ended the reign of Blaise Compaore in October 2014.
On Thursday, Kabore and his prime minister decided to cap their communication allowance to 400,000 CFA Francs (about 700 dollars) per month to reduce government wage bill.
The measure, the first of its kind in Burkina Faso, also targeted certain ministers such as those in charge of defense, security and foreign affairs.
The president noted that heads of public institutions and other personalities in the rank of minister would also have their communication allowance limited to 200,000 CFA Francs.
The government has also outlined measures to reduce expenses on water, electricity and telephone service in public offices. (Xinhua/NAN)