PHOTO: Pres. George Manneh Weah
By Our Reporter
President George Manneh Weah has said in his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday that Liberia debt stock has built up to US$1.69 billion as of December 31, 2021.
Article 58 of the Liberian constitution requires the Liberian President address the Lawmakers on the state of the nation on the 4th working Monday in January of each year.
Article 58 of the Liberian Constitution states: “ The President shall, on the 4th working Monday in January of each year, present the administration’s legislative program for the ensuing session, and shall once a year report to the Legislature on the state of the Republic”.
In his 2022 SONA to the joint session of the 54th Legislature at the Capitol Building on January 24, 2022, the President said:
“The total stock of domestic debt now stands at $660 million U.S. dollars and the total stock of external debt now stands at approximately $1.03 billion U.S. dollars for a total public debt stock valued at $1.69 billion U.S. dollars as at December 31, 2021. The total debt stock grew by 6.29 percent compared to end-December 2020 debt stock of $1.59 billion U.S. dollars and this growth was from disbursement on both external and domestic loans.”
According to him, his CDC government has paid on both domestic and external debt, paying the amount of $83.4 million U.S. dollars in debt service.
“Of this amount, $62.8 million U.S. dollars was paid for domestic debt to the Central Bank of Liberia, to commercial banks for Treasury Bonds, and to other institutions, while $20.6 million U.S. dollars was paid to multilateral and bilateral partners.”
He said the Treasury Bonds, which were issued by the previous Government in 2013, “are costing the Government more than $6 million U.S. dollars in interest annually, just to roll them over to the next period.”
The Liberian leader added that this “is a legacy debt” his government inherited from his predecessor’s administration.
“However, in the interest of continuity of Government, it is an obligation that we have to pay,” President Weah told the Legislature.
“Therefore, I am pleased to inform you that, working with the IMF, we have allocated $35 million U.S. dollars to completely redeem these very expensive Treasury Bonds. This will free up space for investment in education, healthcare and other important priority areas. “
But economic growth rises
However, the Liberian leader said despite the challenges of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy grew by 3.6 percent from negative 3 percent in 2020.
And this year, 2022, he said Liberia’s economy is expected to be 4.7 percent.
According to him, this growth rate is due to be achieved “through increased agricultural and public investments in social compact program. In nominal value the Liberian economy expanded by more than US$300 million in 2021. Inflation was reduced to less than 6 percent in November 2021, from 13.1 percent in December 2020.”