Liberian minister urges Donors To Speed Up Delivery of Pledges

March 06, 2007

Finance Minister Antoinette Sayeh said here Monday that Liberia was "disappointed about the slow pace" at which international donors are delivering promises of assistance for the post-elections reconstruction of the country.                                                                         

Sayeh noted that the international community made significant promises of economic assistance to Liberia over one year ago, but most of them are yet to be fulfilled, citing rehabilitation of roads which had to be postponed last year when the dry season started.

The World Bank had promised to give US$25 million for the rebuilding of roads and bridges across the country, but the funds did not arrive on time. But speaking live on a radio talk show aired simultaneously on four local radio stations, Sayeh said the government was able to get the international donors to understand its concerns at last month's international partnership forum in Washington, DC.

She said the government properly presented its case at the Washington conference hosted by the World Bank, stressing to donors that Liberia has made progress in its economic reform program in the first year of post-conflict governance. "There were very strong endorsement of progress made by the government since its inception in January 2006 and powerful statement of support going forward," she said.

According to her, the government achieved its objectives set before going to the Washington meeting, including reviewing progress made by Liberia on economic reform and examining remaining challenges, discussing financing requirements and mechanisms; and discussing and soliciting partners feedback on the government's strategic priorities.

On debt waiver, she said significant progress was made and that the United States, Germany and Britain assured that they would eventually forgive 100 percent of bilateral debts Liberia owed them in the context of HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative).

But the finance minister said there was "still a long way to go," as the Liberian government continued to make progress in its economic reform efforts. She said the impact of the huge debt waivers by the international community would not be immediately felt on the national budget or would it bring immediate economic benefits for the ordinary citizens, but assured that there were long-term benefits.

Sayeh explained that this was the case because Liberia had not actively serviced its foreign debt over the past years. Sayeh, a former senior staff at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, spoke of the need for the issue of debt waiver to be further explained to the general public, amidst various interpretations by the citizens as to how this would translate into improvement in their standard of living.

Inflation has gone up in the country over the past two years, with the prices of basic consumer goods such as the country's staple food, rice and building materials being hiked on the local market.

Sayeh said what Liberia would benefit from now would be having access to new international financial assistance and credit. The minister disclosed that the government would begin paying some of its domestic debt by 15 March.

But she said out of a total US$913.81 domestic debt stock vetted, the finance ministry discovered that US$292.47 million of the domestic debt claims termed "bogus" were accrued between the years 2002-2005, US$317.47 million labelled "contestable" and US$303.87 million considered "valid".

Sayeh said those in this category claiming government owes them would be required to produce valid original receipts and other documents before payments would be made. The finance minister was also concerned that international donors are still reluctant to channel their economic assistance through the government, preferring the international NGOs and United Nations agencies, due to the legacy of years of bad governance.

"We think that it's very important that partners begin to trust us and give us the benefit of the doubt. We say to partners, start small," Sayeh appealed. 6 March 2007 - PANA