-As World Bank commits US$210m to gov’t “Pro-poor” budgetary support
By our Reporter
Liberia’s annual economic growth rate has gone up to 3.9%, says a communication addressed to the Legislature from President George Manneh Weah.
In a cover letter submitting his first “Pro-poor” draft national budget for the 2018/2018 fiscal year read in plenary by the Secretary of the Senate, Geneve Massaquoi, President Weah said despite the strain on the Liberian economy in the past few years, economic growth has risen to 3.9%.
“Liberia’s economy is showing signs of modest recovery in 2017, amid significant fiscal and external imbalances,” according to the World Bank economic overview.
According to economic statistics, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Liberia expanded 2.50 percent in 2017 from the previous year. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Liberia averaged 2.76 percent from 1961 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of 106.28 percent in 1997 and a record low of -51.03 percent in 1990.
The country’s inflation rate is said to be 17.80%. (Source: https://tradingeconomics.com/liberia/gdp-growth-annual
The budget submitted by the Executive Mansion on Monday to the lawmakers is in the amount of US$562.4 million.
Following the submission of the budget by Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah, the House of Representatives on Tuesday voted unanimously to send the budget to its Joint Committee on Ways, Means, Finance and Development Planning and the Public Account and Expenditure Committee, where scrutiny begins.
At the same time, the Finance Ministry has disclosed that the World Bank has renewed commitment of USD 210 million from the World Bank Group to support government’s pro-poor development agenda.
A press release from the Ministry on Tuesday said Minister Tweah “secured the renewed commitment” from the World Bank when he headed the Liberian delegation at last month’s IMF/WB Springs Meeting in Washington DC, USA, which ran from April 16-22.
The World Bank Group reiterated its commitment to supporting the Government of Liberia through a total of USD 210 million financing during the next three years, with a combination of budgetary support and technical assistance financing.
The Bank and other development partners reasoned with Min. Tweah’s impressive presentation of the country’s medium term macroeconomic prospects and short term challenges and agreed on the importance of their roles in supporting the country’s development goals.
While in the US, the delegation held over 25 meetings with multiple development partners, foreign government representatives, and business leaders interested in investing in Liberia. During these meetings, Minister Samuel D. Tweah presented the country’s macroeconomic outlook and its public investment aspirations highlighting the massive need for infrastructure in the country, particularly roads, whilst laying out the opportunities that Liberia can present to aspiring private investors.
Among the several meetings held by the Liberian delegation were discussions with International Monetary Fund’s African Department Director, Abebe Selassie; the World Bank’s Africa Vice President, Mr. Makhtar Diop; USAID’s Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Cheryl Anderson; and the US State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Finance and Development, Roland DeMarcellus.
Also, in furtherance of Government’s efforts to enhance a thriving private sector in Liberia as a fundamental driver for the country’s development, the Delegation held meetings with representatives of GE (General Electric) Africa, the International Finance Corporation, the Corporate Council of Africa, among others.
Minister Tweah thereafter honoured an invitation from the Corporate Council of Africa to address its constituents during an event held in Washington DC on April 18 during which he eloquently outlined the enormous investment opportunities that Liberia can offer to investors in the area of roads, energy, telecommunications, ICT, etc. The Corporate Council of Africa (CCA) is a nonprofit, membership-based organization established in 1993 to promote business and investment between the United States and the nations of Africa.
The Spring Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.
Also featured are seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events focusing on the global economy, international development, and the world’s financial system.
Also forming part of the delegation to the IMF/WB 2018 Spring Meetings were: Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Mogana S. Flomo, Jr.; Minister of State Without Portfolio, Hon. Trokon Kpui ; Minister of Information, Hon. Lenn Eugene Nagbe; President of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment, John B. Davies; Deputy Minister for Economic and Debt Management at MFDP, Hon. Augustus J. Flomo; Director of Debt Management Unit, Frederick B. Krah; Mle-Too Wesley, Principal Policy Advisor to the Minister, Mle-Too Wesley and Chief of Staff to the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Cletus T. Noah.
Meanwhile, while in the US, Finance and Development Planning Minister Hon. Samuel D. Tweah and team held two separate consultations with Liberian communities in Philadelphia and Minnesota on April 15 – 23 respectively.
The consultations were aimed at soliciting the inputs of the Liberian diaspora in the US as part of government’s broad-based consultations in the development of the country’s development roadmap dubbed, the “Pro-poor Agenda for Development and Transformation”.