23 April 2008
The world community seems perched to revive Liberia, Africa's oldest Negro republic well in its 161st year of independence, after years of bitter politico-ethnic and sometimes baseless infighting.
Or so it seems. But the nation is fast picking up the aura of a hunter who, though praised for bagging many games, carries nothing home to his family for meals. And that's worrying observers of Liberia's recovery program.
The Analyst compiled and presents yet up-to-date dispatches about donor and creditor goodwill for Liberia. Many say the dispatches come in the midst of rising hardship in the country and the resulting downward socio-economic mobility from anxiety to fear amongst Liberians.
The U.S. and the Paris Club have agreed to forgive a significant amount of their debt claims to Liberia just as Vietnam backs improved security in Liberia.
The Paris Club is an informal group of financial officials from 19 of the world's richest countries, which provides financial services such as debt restructuring, debt relief, and debt cancellation to indebted countries and their creditors.
The permanent member-nations of the club are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
A State Department statement issued last Friday by government spokesman Sean McCormack, said together the creditor club and the United States government reached an accord with the Liberian government to forgive approximately $254 million in debt immediately.
"The United States intends to go beyond the terms of the Paris Club debt relief deal and cancel 100 percent of its claims on Liberia, which total approximately $430 million," the statement further disclosed.
The statement quoted the Paris Club creditors as expressing their commitment to implement debt relief that will total more than $1.3 billion if Liberia continues to perform well under its three-year IMF program. Part of the IMF program is the initiation of poverty reduction and consistent debt servicing, according to recent reports.
"U.S. strongly supports the efforts of the Liberian people and the government of President Johnson-Sirleaf to overcome years of conflict and instability and to implement reforms that are putting Liberia back on the path of growth and development," the statement emphasized.
It then noted that the United States already has contributed over $211 million for the clearance of Liberia's arrears to the IMF, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank.
Analysts say Liberia's total foreign debt of $3.7 billion, which is now tapered by recent international efforts, was mostly incurred by the country's previous undemocratic regimes dating back to the Tolbert regime.
The Paris Club cancelled $254 million of Liberia's debt and rescheduled a further $789 million, according to a statement from the group, Thursday night. "Under the deal, Liberia will not have to repay any of its debt before December 31, 2010, given its 'very limited capacity of payment,'" the statement said.
The Liberian government in turn has committed itself to investing its new resources in poverty reduction programmes and to reaching a similar deal with the London Club of creditors. Liberia was indebted to the Paris Club by 1.5 billion dollars.
According to an Afro News last Friday dispatch, the agreement between the Liberian government and the Paris Club was concluded under the "Cologne Terms" designed by the Paris Club for the implementation of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries [HIPC].
Its intention, the dispatch said, was to endorse the restructuring of Liberia's external public debt. Whatever that means was not noted. Concluded under "Cologne terms" designed by the Paris Club for the implementation of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries [HIPC], the agreement endorsed the restructuring of Liberia's external public debt.
This agreement has been concluded under the so called "Cologne terms" designed by the Paris Club for the implementation of the HIPC initiative interim debt relief. As of 1st January 2008, Liberia owed the Paris Club creditors more than US $1.5 billion in nominal terms, of which more than 97% consisted of arrears and late interest.
The rest of Liberia's rescheduled US$789 million will be addressed for debt relief when Liberia reaches Completion Point.
"On an exceptional basis, considering Liberia's very limited capacity of payment, and provided that this country continues to implement satisfactorily an IMF supported program, no payments are expected from Liberia between 1st March 2008 and 31 December 2010, by which time Liberia is expected to have reached its HIPC Completion Point and received the remainder of the debt reduction envisioned under the HIPC initiative," Paris Club creditors agreed.
Liberia gained this "breathing space" after it agreed to devote the resources that otherwise would have gone to Paris Club creditors to priority areas identified in the country's poverty reduction strategy paper. The country also committed itself to seeking comparable treatment from non Paris Club creditors such as the London Club.
Observers say this does not sound much like a relief for poverty-ridden Liberia and the current tension build-up in the country, but the statement noted, "Several creditors intend on a bilateral basis to grant additional debt relief to Liberia beyond the terms set today in the Paris Club agreement."
The international donor community may consistently approach Liberia's debt problem from a purely business approach and feel justified by it, but back home, Liberians differ on the impact and therefore government's effectiveness in gathering genuine support for the nation's recovery program that cannot wait.
"What is likely to cause even greater harm is the president's decision to vigorously pursue debt relief before acquiring the cash necessary for immediate post-war stabilization," said T. Q. Harris, Jr., currently the General Chairman of Liberia Contemporees United Patriotic and Strong and a former vice presidential nominee.
Harris described as "missteps" the government's austerity and security measures such as downsizing of the civil service and the jumpstarting of the SSR program. The measures were reportedly designed to attract IMF and donor assistance, but he wondered what good it brought to the nation in terms of the provision of basic social services and the peace process.
"The question we must ask is this: If Liberia today had zero debt and excellent credit, but yet conditions were exactly as they are; what is likely to become of money that is borrowed in this hypothetical scenario? In a short time, the borrowed money would vanish into thin air; just as the loans which created the estimated $4 billion dollars debt we now are obligated to pay," he said.
He said given that the creditor nations were approaching the debt issue from a business approach and would likely have little or no sympathy for a delinquent nation after the current debt rescheduling expires, there was one thing the Sirleaf administration would do.
"The point is this, seeking debt forgiveness in these early stages is not as vital as getting our friends and partners to do what has been done in the past for other nations emerging from war; and that is to contribute cash money for the singular purpose of stabilizing the situation, thereby creating space to deal realistically with the most critical issues, such as food, policing, ex-combatants, drinking water, resettlement; electricity, roads, health care, and rule of law.
And as stability is restored, issues of debt restructuring, repayment and forgiveness could be thoroughly explored with the cooperation of our creditors," the Liberia Contemporees United Patriotic and Strong General Chairman said.
He suggested that it would be prudent were the administration to shifts its focus away from debt relief to raising funds and garnering support - technical and otherwise - for post-war stabilization.
In his view, the creditor nations know that Liberia's net assets were far greater than their combined debts, that Liberia's delinquency was due in part to political instability rather than a lack of resources, and that they would have no real fear that the debt would not be paid besides ensuring that Liberian would not be heavily indebted in a short time.
"Organize at the earliest a major reconciliation/confidence-building conference, or several such events, where open, frank exchanges can take place," he then suggested further. Opposition politician Charles Brumskine seems to agreed with T.Q. Harris, at least from the perspective that Liberia still has stubborn challenges that will not be automatically addressed by debt forgiveness, according to analysts.
For him, a critical look at the debt forgiveness question suggests that no part of Liberia's debt will be forgiven.
"Liberia's external debt in the neighborhood of four billion United States dollars will in reality not be forgiven, except that Liberia will not be paying the creditors, instead the government will be required to verifiably allocate and spend the amount that the creditors reportedly loaned Liberia," Brumskine made this point last Monday when he, on behalf of the Liberty Party, delivered a statement on "The State of the Nation from a Political Opposition's Perspective".
It is not only Brumskine and Harris that seem cynical about what is obtaining between the Sirleaf administration and its creditors. "This country is at the crossroads of relapse into critical mistrust of government's ability to bring healing and prosperity, the restoration of basic social services.
So, those who are helping the nation need to go beyond debt relief to emphasizing economic and technical assistances, assistances that are key to economic revival, security consolidation, peace, and reconciliation," said political science student David Patterson of the University of Liberia.
According to him, this was necessary because most of Liberia's debt is not only in unpaid arrears and delinquency overcharges but that most of the debt was contracted by regimes that the world labeled as "rogue", "despotic", and "undemocratic".
"The debt problem needs humanitarian approach to some level whereby those now forgiving the nation's debt will also consider giving direct development interest-free loans or direct development grants to the Liberian government with no strings attached," he said even though some Liberians believe this shouldn't happen unless the nation reduced corruption, a coup that administration sympathizers say is tenacious given the "political and geographic inclusion for peace without critical vetting" policy of the government.
Critics say the rush of debt forgiveness for Liberia, though welcoming, appears to be a strategy designed to absolve key donor countries and financial institutions of any moral responsibility to Liberia's post-war recovery, having indirectly contributed to the nation's debt burden by cooperating with past corrupt and despotic administrations in Liberia.
"The Liberian people could be twice victimized if the postwar government is required to service such debts since the contracting of the debt, which was not democratic and professionally done, victimized the Liberian nation and people in the first place," they said.
In their views, to continue debt servicing under the prevailing economic situation in the country, in the place of national reconstruction program, would further undermine rather enhance the nation's poverty reduction program, one of IMF's benchmarks for Liberia to reach the HIPC completion point.
Meantime, analysts fear that if the current debt forgiveness and rescheduling announcements continue without parallel public information campaign to indicate that the figures mentioned in the announcements do not translate automatically into spending money for the government, the government risks criticisms that may turn out to be unfair and even violent.
In a related development, a VietNamNet Bridge dispatch, last Thursday, say Vietnam supports efforts of the Liberian government to reduce poverty, fight corruption, counter drug-trafficking and organized crimes, as well as promote disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.
The Vietnamese Representative to the UN Security Council, Ambassador Le Luong Minh, made the statement at an UNSC meeting in New York on April 14. The diplomat applauded progress made by Liberia in ensuring political stability and economic growth, and promoting national reconciliation.
However, he said, Liberia is facing challenges such as fragile security, pervasive poverty, food shortages, high unemployment, massive illiteracy, poor infrastructure and inadequate delivery of basis services.
Having emphasized the important link between security and development in Liberia, Minh spoke highly of the decisions of the World Bank and the African Development Bank to clear a substantial amount of Liberia's debts.
The ambassador called on UN agencies, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the international community to continue to help Liberia consolidate peace and rebuild the nation.
Vietnam is the second largest rice producer in the world next to Thailand. Many said the country would be useful in helping to upgrade Liberia's agricultural program as well as helping to hold down feared rise in the prices of that threshold community in Liberia.
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Please stop using the terms that put black people down." Negro" is a negative term not only in America but in the world. Liberia is not a Negro republic. Liberia is the oldest African country. Liberians are not Negro, we are BLACK and we are AFRICANs Thanks