Monrovia — The Plenary of the House of Representatives has called for a probe to uncover what has occasioned the scarcity of smaller denominations of the Liberian currency on the market.

The House Committee on Banking and Currency has been commissioned by the body to initiate an inquiry with the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) regarding the absence of the banknotes - a situation which has made daily business transactions difficult for many Liberians.

The House's decision followed a communication from Montserrado County District #11 Representative Richard Nagbe Koon in which he implored the House to invite before its Plenary the Executive Governor of the CBL and his technical team to explain why coins are not being meted and smaller denominations not printed before the bigger bills.

In his communication to the plenary on Tuesday, Rep. Koon said it is sad and embarrassing that the general citizenry goes through turbulent times and often gets frustrated when transacting with cash on the Liberian markets, due to the shortages of smaller denominations of the Liberian banknotes.

According to him, on many occasions, either buyer or seller will unsatisfactorily leave petit cash with the other party during transactions, something he described as "bad and uncivilized."

It can be recalled, the House of Representatives approved the Central Bank of Liberia's request to print a new family of banknotes in the tone of L$48.7 billion to completely replace the old ones.

In the legislative piece named and styled 'Resolution 001-2021', the House mandated the CBL to print 20, 50, 100 and 500 denominations, omitting the L$5 and L$10 bank notes.