IPNEWS: Liberia’s domestic debt burden in 2017, under the reign of Africa’s first female president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stood at 31.92% prior to the inception of the George Manneh Weah government, yet by 2021, the figures skyrocketed to 52.9%, with other financial indicators pointing that Liberia’s domestic debt will experience a sharp decline of 51.56 and 51.59 by end of 2022 and 2023 respectively.

In 2020 Liberia’s public debt was 1,554 million euros1,771 million dollars, which has increased by 266 million since 2019. This amount means that the debt in 2020 reached 58.32% of Liberia’s GDP, a 9.47 percentage point rises from 2019 when it was 48.85% of GDP.

By 2021, the Central Bank of Liberia stated that Liberia’s external Debt has increased to 995.69 USD Million in the third quarter of 2021 from 982.75 USD Million in the second quarter of 2021. However, Liberia’s Finance and Development Minister, Samuel Tweah, recently disclosed that there are ongoing discussions with China about options for debt relief, even though he did not provide further details. As of end-2020, Liberia’s debt to China amounted to $54 million out of its total external public debt of around $1.2 billion, according to the IMF.

With all the indicators pointing to a further unstable economy ahead of the general and presidential elections come October 2023, Montserrado County Senator Darius Dillon is not mincing his word over the failure of Finance Minister Samuel Tweah to appear before the Liberian Senate Monday, June 20, to give full report backed by documentation of Liberia’s domestic debts.

Senator Darius Dillon, including other Senators, voiced their anger calling for the report full list covering domestic debts’, including those who are being awarded contracts for which they are being paid, among others.

Minutes following the abrupt call-off of the Senate’s plenary session, Sen. Dillon vehemently opposed the inability of Finance Minister Tweah to appear to collusion by some members of the Liberian Senate and some unfaithful business owners wanting to steal money from the Liberian treasury under the disguise of ‘legitimate domestic debts’.

“Finance Minister Tweah must be transparent on the domestic issue; Have you paid off on the previous budget? Where is the list that you have paid off or want to pay off? Where are the individuals that you paid off in the 2021 budget? Who are they? Who are they for which you earmarked over US$80Million?”

“If you say you contracted people to provide goods and services to the government, where are they? Goods and service is a broad phrase, we want a clear list and documentation on the domestic debts.”

“This is why I want the Finance Minister to be called in and charged with contempt of the legislature for his failure to appear before the senate.” Senator Dillon insisted.

It may be recalled, that Tweah prior to his appearance to the Liberian Senate, stated on a local radio station that the Government of Liberia does not have a fully comprehensive list of all its domestic debts owed from the era of the country’s first president, Joseph Jenkins Roberts to the incumbent President George Manneh Weah’s administration and wonders why the Senate is concern about a comprehensive domestic debt report of the country.

“We are working with the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to have the full list of all government domestic debts cataloged.”

“Every institution and individual in Liberia who has claimed government indebtedness has been instructed to make their case to the GAC. The GAC will audit and present the full list to the Ministry of Finance before payment is made.”

“We don’t have the capacity right now to pay anybody, therefore, we have instructed anyone that has problems on providing service to the government and they have not been paid to go to the GAC and make their claims with evidence,” Tweah laugh-out at callers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Samuel Tweah has accused Senator Dillon of playing politics with the debt pronouncement and assured him that the Government of Liberia is transforming the debt space which has since been under the table without knowledge by its citizens.

“Last year we spent 84 million on domestic debts and we broke it down and presented the report to the Senate. Now a Senator is asking to see me, it’s politics he is playing,” Minister Tweah claimed. (Courtesy of Smart News)