EU disburses 22 million for budgetary support to Liberia

The European Union has approved the disbursement of EUR 22 million (approx. US$27.2 million) of budget support to help Liberia to scale up its efforts to eradicate the Ebola virus here.

The announcement followed the joint visit to Monrovia on November 14th of the European Union’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management and official EU Ebola Coordinator, Mr. Christos Stylianides, and Mr. Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.

With these funds, the European Union will support the Liberian budget and state systems to ensure its capacity to face the economic challenges created by the Ebola crisis and to deliver public services.

In particular, the funds will support the health sector and the fight against Ebola. The payment has been accelerated as part of the EU’s response to the multi-faceted Ebola crisis.

The specific objectives of the EU’s budget support to Liberia are to improve (1) economic governance, (2) macro-economic stability, especially in the context of the Ebola crisis, and (3) the provision of basic services, notably in the area of health.

The EU has agreed with the Liberian Government to continue improving public finance management, macroeconomic stability and helping the Government fight and contain the current Ebola outbreak, as well as to start reshaping the health sector.

In this context, the EU fully supports the Government’s commitment in the revised budget to maintain, or increase in relative terms, health expenditure as well as salary payments in the health sector.

The European Union has responded to the Ebola crisis from the start of the epidemic. By the 6th of November more than € 1 billion has been pledged by EU Member States and the European Commission for this crisis. On 24th October 2014, the European Council appointed Mr Christos Stylianides as the EU Ebola Coordinator.