Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan on Wednesday insisted that "no one on the central government payroll makes less than $150," pushing back against claims the Boakai administration has failed to enforce the Decent Work Act's minimum wage mandate.
Ngafuan, speaking at a press briefing with select journalists, said confusion stemmed from deductions that reduce take-home pay but not gross salaries.
"We can categorically say that no one on the central government payroll is making less than $150 gross," Ngafuan declared. "It is misleading to say otherwise. That's not how salary structures work anywhere, not in Liberia, not in the U.S."
The minister stressed that the $150 benchmark applies to gross pay, before taxes, social security and insurance contributions. Net pay varies, he said, depending on those deductions and personal financial obligations like loans.
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Turning to international cooperation, Ngafuan outlined outcomes from President Joseph Boakai's recent visit to Japan, saying the trip was not ceremonial but focused on "high-level discussions with real outcomes." He said Japan had committed to extend the Somalia Drive to the Gabriel Tucker Bridge, expand ongoing support to the JFK Medical Center with equipment and services, and provide further grant-based assistance in housing and infrastructure through its development arm, JICA. He added that the Japanese also expressed interest in investments in agriculture and renewable energy. "The Japanese don't do debt-trap diplomacy," Ngafuan said, emphasizing that most support was in the form of grants.
Ngafuan also disclosed that the World Bank's new Country Partnership Framework will channel $500 million into Liberia over the next five years, focusing on tourism, agribusiness and energy. He said the International Finance Corporation, the bank's private-sector arm, committed to a 20-megawatt renewable energy project with private investor SCARTEC and is exploring further equity participation in Liberian businesses. Liberia was also selected among a dozen African nations to develop an Energy Compact aimed at increasing electricity access from 34 percent to 75 percent within five years.
On the regional front, Ngafuan said AfriExim Bank is considering restructuring Liberia's loan for the ELWA-RIA Highway to ease fiscal pressure, while also expressing interest in financing additional infrastructure and climate projects.
He confirmed that Liberia remains eligible for a second Millennium Challenge Corporation compact, though progress slowed due to administrative transitions in Washington. Recruitment for key posts at the MCC Liberia office, he said, will continue.
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Ngafuan stated that the Boakai-Koung administration is aligning wage policy, diplomacy and development finance to meet national priorities, from infrastructure and energy to healthcare and agriculture.
