WASHINGTON: The IMF board on Wednesday approved next aid disbursement for Liberia under a $78.9 million loan program, and called on the West African state to do more to improve its governance and transparency.
Liberia has attracted billions of dollars in resource investment since the end of a civil war in 2003, but remains one of the world's least developed countries, with at least 64 percent of the population living in poverty.
The International Monetary Fund said Liberia must do more to ensure that strong economic growth, mainly from mining, spills over to the rest of the economy.
A draft audit in May also found that almost all of the $8 billion worth of resource contracts signed by Liberia since 2009 violated its laws, casting doubt on anti-graft and good governance efforts under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Liberian law sets rules for foreign investment projects, including on competitive tendering, tax rates and equity stakes to be held by the government.
"Governance and transparency should continue to be strengthened, including through a revised Petroleum Act and the
new Revenue Authority," IMF Deputy Managing Director Naoyuki Shinohara said in a statement after the board discussion.
The Fund approved the loan last November to help combat poverty and Liberia must meet certain IMF conditions to receive each tranche of aid. On Wednesday, Liberia received its next $11.1 million aid disbursement, the IMF said.
In approving the next tranche, the Fund said it waived its requirement that the Central Bank of Liberia lower the gross direct credit it provides to the central government.
Comments
Comments are closed.