Imported sanitary pads will no longer attract import duty or value-added tax, Finance Minister Seedy Keita announced in the 2026 Budget Speech delivered on a Friday.

The measure is intended to address economic and health disparities in menstrual hygiene for school-going girls by improving access and lowering retail prices, according to the minister.

The government will periodically review the sanitary pad tax policy to ensure it achieves the desired outcomes, Keita said.

Land rent enforcement from January 1, 2026

In the same speech, the minister announced strict enforcement of annual land rent payments starting January 1, 2026.

The Ministry of Finance will enforce the State Lands Act of 1991 jointly with the Ministry of Lands, Regional Government and Religious Affairs.

From that date, land lease documents used as collateral will be void if annual land lease rental payments are not fulfilled, according to the announcement.

Banks and financial institutions holding land lease documents as collateral must ensure clients pay annual land lease rentals.

The minister responsible for Lands and Regional Government and Religious Affairs will nullify leases when payments are not made, Keita said.

Two measures, two audiences

The sanitary pad measure is framed around affordability for school-going girls, with the stated aim of lowering retail prices and improving access.

The land rent measure is framed around enforcement of existing obligations under the 1991 Act, with consequences attached to non-payment for leaseholders and for the banks holding their documents.

The two announcements sit in the same budget speech but address different constituencies: households purchasing sanitary products, and leaseholders whose land documents are held as collateral by financial institutions.

Both measures were announced in the 2026 Budget Speech. The land rent enforcement carries a fixed start date of January 1, 2026; the sanitary pad measure carries no start date in the facts provided.

For school-going girls and their households, the stated intent is improved access and lower retail prices, though the fact sheet does not project the size of any price reduction.

For leaseholders and the banks holding their documents, the stated consequence of non-payment is nullification of the lease as collateral, carried out by the minister responsible for Lands and Regional Government and Religious Affairs.