Samuel D. Tweah Jr., former Liberian Finance Minister, has come out strongly against recent claims regarding the country's debt levels, asserting that such claims are misleading and fueled by propaganda.
According to Tweah, the official figures for Liberia's domestic and international debt at the end of 2023 stand at a total of US$2.1 billion, significantly less than the US$2.6 billion figure recently circulated.
In a detailed statement, Tweah broke down the debt, clarifying that of the US$2.1 billion total, approximately US$914 million is domestic debt, while the remainder is owed to international multilateral institutions. He emphasized that this total debt figure reflects amounts already spent and recognized in Liberia's official debt statistics.
"Contrary to recent misleading reports, the total debt figure under the CDC regime is accurately reported as $2.1 billion," Tweah said. "I have seen claims that the CDC alone accumulated $2.6 billion in debt, but that is a blatant lie."
Tweah provided a historical breakdown of Liberia's domestic debt. At the end of 2017, the outgoing Unity Party (UP) administration left behind a domestic debt of $266 million. However, Tweah noted that this figure was not complete.
According to him, the UP administration had hidden over US$300 million, which was recognized in an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to start a new IMF-supported program.
Additionally, Tweah indicated that more than US$100 million was left unaudited at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) for future reviews.
Thus, Tweah argues that the total domestic debt left by the UP administration was US$566 million, or US$666 million if including the unaudited amount. This leaves a balance of US$348 million in domestic debt incurred under the CDC administration.
"We encourage the public to verify these figures with the IMF to understand the accurate state of Liberia's debt," he urged.
It can be recalled that in April 2024, the then Deputy Finance and Development Planning Minister for Fiscal Policy, Anthony Myers, now acting Minister, said Liberia's current domestic and international debts as of December 2023 total US$2,337.26 billion, of which domestic debt is US$1,022.00 billion (43.73 percent) and external debt is US$1,315.26 billion (56.27 percent).
According to him, the government's public debt service portfolio, as captured in the administration's recently submitted draft national budget to the national Legislature, the total debt service, subscription, and other payables for FY2024 are projected at US$217.28 million, representing a 117.69 percent increase compared to the FY2023 forecast of US$99.81 million. However, US$129.00 million has been allocated to service this debt.
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He said this represents an increase of 29.26 percent compared to the FY2023 forecast of US$99.81 million. Moreover, the overall debt stock as of December 2023 stands at US$2,337.26 billion, of which domestic debt is US$1,022.00 billion (43.73 percent) and external debt is US$1,315.26 billion (56.27 percent).
