The House of Representatives has ratified the Government of Liberia’s COVID-19 Response Recast Budget, pending concurrence by the Senate.
President George M. Weah wrote House Speaker Bhofal Chambers last Friday, detailing the executive’s proposal in the draft recast budget and reapportioning more than US$32 Million in the current 2019-2020 national budget.
The House’s Committee on Ways, Means, and Finance, and Public Accounts and Expenditure, in line with mandate of Plenary, conducted hearing on the Draft Recast National Budget for Fiscal Year 2019/2020, beginning with the Revenue Envelope.
The Committee divulges that upon review of documents and testimonies from the Liberia Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, respectively, the recast revenue envelope is projected at US$518,005,258.00, forecasting domestic revenue at US$394,594,258.00 and external resources at US$123,409,000.00, respectively.
During the hearing, the Committee maintained that salary or compensation remains untouched at 100% of appropriation; essential operational budget is not to be impacted, while Grants and Subsidies are risked or face uncertainty.Health and Security are considered in the recasting process with emphasis on Covid-19 responses.
At the same time the House has agreed that all fiscal measures provided for in the FY-2019/2020 National Budget remains enforced, except otherwise specifically provided for in the Joint Resolution endorsing the State of Emergency and the stimulus package approved by the 54th Legislature.
Of the US$42.02 million risked, US$32.77 million is proposed for re-appropriation for Covid-19 response, while US$2 million is for Grant and US $8 million goes towards domestic debt, respectively.The recast national budget goes into operation effective June, 2020. Editing by Jonathan Browne
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