Domestic debts at US$660M
Liberia President George Manneh Weah says his administration has made significant progress in restructuring the country’s domestic debt, which stands at US$660 million, saying the total stock of external debt now stands at approximately US$1.03 billion.
In his 5th Annual Message delivered at the Fifth Session of the 54th Legislature Monday, 24 January 2022, President Weah said the total public debt stock is valued at US$1.69 billion as of 31 December 2021.
He also said all debts owed the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), including the debt owed to the former National Bank of Liberia, were bundled into a Restructured and Consolidated Loan at the start of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported program two years ago.
This Restructured Loan, according to President Weah, totaled US$487.5 million and the government pays an annual interest of US$13.9 million to the CBL on this loan and will start to pay principal in 2030.
He added that the total debt stock grew by 6.29 percent compared to the end of December 2020 debt stock of US$1.59 billion and this growth was from disbursement on both external and domestic loans.
“On both domestic and external debt the Government paid the amount of US$83.4 million in debt service. Of this amount, US$62.8 million was paid for domestic debt to the CBL, to commercial banks for Treasury Bonds, and to other institutions, while US$20.6 million was paid to multilateral and bilateral partners,” he said.
President Weah continued that the Treasury Bonds, which were issued by the previous Government in 2013, are costing the Government more than US$6 million in interest annually, just to roll them over to the next period.
“This is a legacy debt which my Administration inherited. However, in the interest of continuity of Government, it is an obligation that we have to pay,” President Weah indicated.
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He explained that working with the IMF, his administration has allocated US$35 million to completely redeem these very expensive Treasury Bonds and will free up space for investment in education, healthcare and other important priority areas.
He said Article 58 of the Liberian Constitution requires the President to provide details of national income and public expenditure for the previous year, as well as his legislative agenda for the ensuing year, and to comment on the economic condition of the Republic, and the State of the Nation.
“We are almost at the point where the audit of the consolidated revenue account will be current up to any fiscal year. In 2018 my Administration inherited an audit backlog dating back to the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 national budgets. We have worked overtime to conduct these audits and make the current audit of the consolidated revenue account,” he said.
President Weah said the General Auditing Commission is presently conducting an independent payroll audit funded by the World Bank, and is developing a new framework to ensure better audits and financial reporting that is consistent with the Public Financial Management Law.
He added “we must continue to show strong gains in the fight against corruption, money laundering and illicit financial flows. The Government is strengthening and empowering the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission to prevent fraud and acts of corruption before they occur.”
