Despite an end-of-year press conference on December 21, 2017 on the state of the Liberian economy
to put to rest erroneous and sensational stories reported in the local papers, stories still linger alleging
that the Central Bank of Liberia is broke and that the outgoing administration had made illegal capital
transfers, the latest such story reported in the New Democrat Newspaper as recent as February 15,
2018. These stories linger because what the CBL said on December 21, 2018 have been taken out of
context and simply misunderstood.
It is therefore important that the Central Bank clarify these stories to prevent speculations that have the
propensity to bring about financial instability.
No Illegal Transfers
During his State of the Economy Press Conference, the CBL Executive Governor disclosed that
between November 2016 and October 2017, outward personal remittance amounted to US$449.41
million while during that same period Liberia received US$545.78 in inward personal remittance,
representing a net gain of US$96.37. This net gain, it must be said, is an additional US96.37 Million
added to the Liberian economy in 2017.
The media has wrongly focused on the outward personal remittance of US$449.41, without realizing
that Liberia received more than it sent out in the amount of US$96.37million.
Furthermore, saying that there was US$449.41 in outward personal remittance in 2017 does not in any
way mean the money was transmitted from the Central Bank to unidentified foreign banks.
Personal remittances include transfers in cash between resident and non- resident individuals. The
cash transferred may be from the wages, business or property of the sender. It must now be
understood that source of the money that was remitted was not from the Central Bank of
Liberia.
Liberia Is Not Broke!
Nothing could be further from the truth than the suggestion that Liberia is broke. Liberia is in far better
financial shape than the US$5.5Million that the Sirleaf administration inherited. Today, Liberia’s net
reserves are US$155 Million, representing an increase of more than 2,800%. This is the net foreign
reserves that the new Government has inherited. Rather than recognizing this tremendous financial
improvement, the media is writing baseless stories that Liberia is broke.
Liberia’s finances may have been much better than US$155 Million had it not been for Ebola outbreak.
Prior to that period, Liberia’s foreign reserves were as high as US$242 Million. Liberia is on course to
register economic growth in 2018 as it had done in 2017.
Positive Economic Projections for 2018
In his State of the Economy Press Conference at the end of 2017, the CBL Executive Governor said:
“The economy is projected to record a real GDP growth of 2.5 percent, up from a contraction of 1.6
percent reported in 2016”.
To sustain that growth and reduce the foreign exchange pressures facing the economy, Governor
Weeks expressed his intention to recommend to the National Legislature during the budget
formulation process that a significant portion of the budget be allocated to the productive sector of the
economy, especially entrepreneurs or companies engaging in value-added production. He said this
would boost exports receipt, reduce import payments, improving Liberia’s trade balance and ultimately
lead to job creation and poverty reduction, something that is consistent with President Weah’s Pro-
Poor Agenda.
Journalist who continue to paint a gloomy picture of Liberia’s finances, either forget the depth from
which the Liberian economy has emerged or deliberately want to sensationalize stories so as to
simply sell their newspapers.
The Central Bank of Liberia welcomes public scrutiny, especially from the media, but this must be done
in good faith.
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