The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group on Tuesday approved a USD 48-million budget support grant to finance Liberia's Economic Governance and Competitiveness Support Program. The grant is provided from the Bank's Fragile State Facility.
The program aims to:
Improve public financial management systems in the country;
Strengthen its tax and customs administration including transparency and accountability of revenue from the extractive industry;
mprove business enabling environment for its private sector development.
It will also increase the government's fiscal space for pro-poor expenditure in line with the poverty reduction strategy. The program is an integral part of a broader set of the Bank's interventions designed to support good financial and economic governance. It is complemented by the ongoing capacity building project, and additional support is being considered to strengthen capacity in core state functions related to public financial management.
The African Development Bank Group is the largest budget support donor in Liberia and will continue to work closely with the government, civil society organisations, the private sector and development partners to ensure that the program's objectives are achieved; enhance donor coordination, and policy dialogue to effectively support country-led reforms.