Gov’t needs more borrowing
Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel D. Tweah says there is no way Liberia can grow, end poverty or transform the private sector without more borrowing from international partners including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Union (EU), the World Bank and other institutions.
He told a press conference in Monrovia Tuesday, 20 March with a high power delegation from the IMF that for Liberia’s economy to grow, there is a need for government to depend on borrowing money from international partners like IMF, EU and the World Bank.
He says what the government is even looking for is a robust partnership with the IMF to help strengthen its Pro-poor vision, saying government will be looking for greater flexibility because it wants to be transformative to its people.
Mr. Tweh indicates that the president’s new vision is targeting infrastructure, noting that it will require good amount of money to meet such target to mainly deliver about 1,500km of roads.
He also cites investments in the agriculture sector as part of Mr. Weah’s key targets which he says will attract more borrowing.
“Public financial management under President Weah is going to be completely different [from] what it was in the past six years,” Mr. Tweh promises.
Mr. Tweh argues that one indication of government’s commitment is the budget recast that was recently submitted to the 54th Legislature, cutting down wages and demonstrating commitment to addressing pro-poor issues.
He says government is putting in place a private sector plan to “doing business,” on grounds that it is only through the private sector “we” can generate more jobs.
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Mr. Tweh says over the next several weeks, government will unveil what is a roadmap to its new development strategy to the public. According to him, the new development strategy will focus on infrastructure development and roads.
Minister Tweah indicates that the idea is to prioritize sectors that can support growth, and develop jobs.
By Lewis S. Teh–Edited by Winston W. Parley
