Prompting His Request For Printing Of More Liberian Dollar Banknotes
By K. Ericson Sayee, Contributing Writer
CAPITOL HILL, Monrovia– April 9, 2026–Disclosing the necessity of the printing of additional banknotes, Pres. Joseph N. Boakai, Sr. has informed the House of Representatives about low reserve of the Liberian currency, as he disclosed that the country’s reserve currently stands at 7 percent.
Providing an update to the Legislature and justifying the move to print additional banknotes, in his letter to the House which was read during the sitting of the body, Thursday, April 9, 2026, Pres. Boakai says as of December 31, 2025, only 7.06 percent of banknotes remain in reserve, describing it as a critically inadequate to sustain liquidity requirements for 2026 and beyond.
As a matter of concerns that requires concerted efforts to curb the looming economic deficit, he expressed that his government deems its necessary for the additional banknotes, which, he says, will ease the looming situation as it will ensure sufficient liquidity for government and private sector by aligning currency supply with GDP growth and transactional needs.
President Boakai asserted that the process will replace mutilated notes in line with the Clean-note Policy; support strategic reserve and programs such as gold purchases and FX accumulation; advance Liberia’s de-dollarization efforts and readiness for the ECOWAS single currency monetary integration; and meet unforeseen operational and strategic needs.
The Liberian leaderi emphasized that the request is pursuant to Section 6(b) and (c) of An Amendment and Restatement of the Act Establishing the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) published in 2020, which authorizes the Bank to issue and manage the Liberian Dollar (LRD) currency to promote monetary and financial stability. He revealed, if approved and endorsed by the legislature, the proposed additional printing of banknotes is expected to run from 2026-2030.
He added: “In light of the foregoing, I hereby request the Legislature, in accordance with Article 34(d)(ii) of the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, to authorize the Central Bank of Liberia to print additional Liberian Dollar banknotes for the period 2026-2030. This measure is essential to safeguarding monetary stability, sustaining economic growth, and reinforcing public trust in the domestic currency”.
“The emergency printing capacity, to maintain monetary stability and support national economic policies”, the Liberian Head of State added.
The President further revealed that since 1999, the CBL has conducted three major currency replacement exercises (LS1, LS2, and LS3). The most recent, LS3 (2021-2024), involved the printing of L$48.734 billion to replace legacy currency valued at L$25.8 billion, and meet growing transactional demand.
While this exercise achieved significant progress, operational challenges have
emerged, Pres. Boakai emphasized that there has been rising volume of mutilated and damaged notes in circulation, declining reserve vault holdings relative to transactional demand.
According to him, the persistent reliance on cash despite advances in digital payments which increases demand for Liberian dollars due to economic expansion and de-dollarization, and need to support the Gold Purchase Program and strengthen foreign exchange reserves.
He delineated that his Government remains committed to transparency and accountability in the execution of this exercise–accordingly, the Central Bank of Liberia will provide periodic reports to the Legislature on progress and outcomes.
Meanwhile, upon reading of the President’s communication to Plenary of the House of Representatives, Hon. Sekou Konneh, Rep. of District #2, Montserrado County, made the motion that the communication be received and sent to the committee on Banking and Currency to report to the House within the timeline of the special sitting, which is expected to run from April 9 -23.
After being seconded, the House agreed that the relevant committee named scrutinize and evaluate the significance of the President’s communication. However, the request didn’t specify the total amount expected to be printed and the denomination of the Liberian banknotes.