Monrovia — Deputy Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dephue Zuo, during a press briefing this week, claimed that the administration of former President George Weah accumulated USD 2.6 billion in debt during its six-year tenure. However, the Weah administration's turnover notes, seen by The Liberian Investigator, indicate that this assertion is inaccurate.
The turnover note to the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning shows that when President George Weah assumed office in January 2018, his administration inherited a national debt of approximately USD 1.09 billion. This debt was a combination of external and domestic liabilities. At the start of the Weah administration, Liberia's external debt stood at around USD 693 million, owed to various multilateral creditors such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, as well as bilateral creditors from other nations. The domestic debt inherited was approximately USD 396 million, primarily owed to local creditors, including commercial banks, the Central Bank of Liberia, and various local contractors who had provided goods and services to the government under the previous administration.
During its six-year tenure, the Weah administration contracted additional debt totaling around USD 1.14 billion. This new debt was divided between external and domestic sources. The government borrowed USD 838.55 million from external sources, mainly from multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Of this amount, USD 621.86 million had already been disbursed by the time the administration left office. On the domestic front, the administration increased the country's debt by USD 396.54 million, fully disbursed and largely owed to local financial institutions, including commercial banks and the Central Bank of Liberia. This increase in domestic debt was partly due to the government's reliance on domestic borrowing to finance its budget shortfalls.
By October 2023, when the Weah administration's term ended, Liberia's total public debt had risen to approximately USD 2.21 billion. This debt consisted of USD 1.26 billion in external debt, which accounted for 56.99% of the total debt stock. Most of this debt was owed to multilateral creditors, with USD 1.15 billion owed to institutions such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The remaining USD 111.80 million was owed to bilateral creditors, primarily foreign governments. The domestic debt at the end of the Weah administration was USD 951.75 million, making up 43.01% of the total debt. The Central Bank of Liberia emerged as the largest domestic creditor, holding USD 630.48 million of this debt. Commercial banks held USD 192.87 million, while other institutions and contractors accounted for the remaining USD 121.50 million.
During a Ministry of Information press briefing on Tuesday, Mr. Zuo, who is the Deputy Minister for Economic Management at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, stated that the Boakai-Koung regime inherited a total debt of USD 2.6 billion from the Weah-Taylor administration, stressing that the figures prove that the debts accumulated by the CDC government in the last six years surpass those inherited from the Sirleaf-Boakai regime over 12 years.
According to him, under the former ruling Unity Party, led by ex-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, the government accumulated USD 881 million in debt over its 12-year tenure.
He also stated that USD 4.2 billion was waived under the Sirleaf administration. "You will be surprised, as Liberians, but let me say this to you: in a six-year period, the CDC government of former President George Weah accumulated USD 2.6 billion in debt."
Minister Zuo further noted that of the USD 2.6 billion, the Boakai-Koung regime inherited over USD 1 billion in domestic debts, which, according to him, raises questions about the fiscal management team of the immediate past administration.
"In addition to that, we're talking about external debts; out of that USD 2.6 billion, the domestic debt we inherited is so huge, which is USD 1 billion. This action strangulates our local Liberian businesses by taking away money from them and leaving government workers unpaid after work," Minister Zuo asserted.
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According to him, some local contractors could not be paid by the CDC government for their services, thus leaving them in a state of dilemma. "Due to this poor management of the fiscal space of the country, this is why this Rescue Mission has come to rescue the country."
"In fact, what they accumulated in the last six years is more than what we accumulated in 12 years," he added. He also stated that not all creditors waived their debts to the UP government in 2010.
He further questioned the expenditure of over USD 1 billion in domestic debt accumulated under the Weah administration. "So the question is, USD 1.5 billion-plus in debt over six years--where did it go?"
These assertions by the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning came in the wake of its attempt to debunk reports that the government has been blocked from accessing funds from the World Bank due to its failure to meet its loan payment obligations.
The suspension of its drawing rights was confirmed by the World Bank country office in Monrovia; yet, the Ministry of Finance claimed that the media reports on its suspension were false.
