(Monrovia, September 21, 2022): The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) condemns as a total fabrication a recent social media video that falsely claims that L$8.0B of the newly printed one-hundred-dollar banknotes was diverted to finance President George Weah’s re-election bid.

In keeping with its commitment to a transparent and accountable process, the CBL, once again, restates that the first L$4.0B brought into the country in November 2021 was used to ensure that there was enough liquidity in the banks for the December and January festive season, while the second L$4.0 B brought in February 2022 was used to begin the replacement of mutilated banknotes. In addition, the Bank wishes to report that as of September 19, 2022, a total of L$7.35 billion of the L$8.0 billion had been infused into circulation, which has helped to address the perennial liquidity problem faced by banks.

The CBL has informed the public on a regular basis about developments relating to the currency reform. In this regard, the Bank has said that as it begins bringing in the minted coins and more of the newly printed banknotes, it is building and remodeling permanent and temporary structures in Monrovia to store, verify, and issue the new banknotes and coins, while defacing and destroying the old banknotes based on approved policies and procedures.

The CBL has put in place measures to guarantee the currency changeover exercise—from procurement to the delivery of the new currency into the CBL vault —is transparent and accountable, as evidenced by the technical support and observation of the process by our international partners, including Kroll and Associates, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the African Development Bank.  The chairs of the House and Senate committees on Banking and Currency also witnessed the arrival into the country and delivery into the CBL vault the L$8.0 billion of the newly printed banknotes.

The US Embassy issued a press statement, following the procurement process, praising the process as a “win for Liberia”, and the IMF has acknowledged the successful implementation of the currency changeover process thus far, as a key milestone under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program. The Bank continues to benefit from technical and policy advice from the Fund regarding the currency changeover as well as regular monitoring of the process.

The CBL once again wishes to assure both the domestic and international stakeholders that it remains committed to ensuring a credible and transparent currency changeover and prudent monetary policy to promote macroeconomic stability and sustainable development in Liberia.