Capitol Hill — The aim of the revenue hearings is for revenue-generating entities to present strategies to strengthen domestic resources, identify new revenue streams, and prevent future budget shortfalls.
According to the Chairman of Ways and Means and Finance, Rep. P. Mike Jurry, the hearings are for both a civic moment and constitutional duty, and it's the Legislature's obligation to ensure transparency and fiscal prudence.
He said this figure reflects ambition, but it must also reflect truth, and it is their task to interrogate the revenue assumptions to ensure they are not only realistic but just.
"These hearings are not ceremonial, they are a constitutional mechanism for fiscal oversight.".
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Jurry noted that the expanded fiscal space signals Liberia's potential for real transformation and a transition toward middle-income status.
He said the priority issues that will guide the FY2026 are the ArcelorMittal US$200 million signature bonus, earmarked for development, and domestic revenue expansion.
"We commend the LRA's efforts to broaden the tax base. But we must ask, are these projections grounded in enforceable policy? Are they equitable? Do they burden the informal sector while sparing entrenched interests?" he stated.
Rep. Jurry further called for a clear understanding of the debt payment process. He said the committee is concerned about debt payments that are typically scheduled over a predetermined period, as failure to meet them results in penalties and increased interest rates.
"We hereby emphasize that regularly reviewing and adjusting the composition of the debt portfolio is essential to maintain financial flexibility and ensure alignment with broader economic goals. As Lawmakers, our role is not to rubber-stamp. It is to interrogate, to refine, and to represent," he explained.
Also speaking the Deputy Minister for Fiscal Affairs Anthony Myers said, for the second time in the in the role, the budget hearing has been introduced with a clear statement of policy from the relevant legislative committee, which challenges them in the executive to be aware of what the legislature expects, by extension what the Liberian people expect to see through their elected representatives and those of them who have been appointed to act on their behalf in the executive.
He said this budget is indeed historic as the chairman noted, because for the past two years they have been talking about the billion dollar mark and by act of diligence and the exercise of due diligence and the desire to protect the interests of the Liberian people, they in the executive they did all they could, to ensure that the resources that is due the Liberian people came through and is reflected in various aspects of the projection.
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"whether it was policy measures that we stood by during negotiations of various contracts or whether it was vigorous revenue expansion and administration policies enforced by the LRA with support from the ministry of finance or be it the directive clear mandate given to us by the president of the republic to ensure that all resources that are due the Liberian people may be made to count for".
He added that, as they go through these hearings in the coming days and possibly next week, allocations to priorities were made to reflect the growth in the budget.
"As a consequence, various sectors which are recently struggled to receive adequate funding were appropriately augmented in the expenditure estimate, which will be seen in the next few days. As is always the case with these processes, whether it's on revenue projections or expenditure estimates, you can never get every dollar you want because there are always constraints, shortcomings, and other aspects you may not be too sure of," Myers argued.
Myers went on to say, "If you look at the revenue forecast, you will see that a significant, though not a major, component of the budget has been placed in contingency." Contingency not because they are just fantasizing or thinking that there are imaginary sources of revenue, but because of the level of diligence that they have been exerting on this side in revenue administration, and they always want to make sure that the honorable body and the Liberian people get the facts and the truth. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah.
