Monrovia – President George Manneh Weah, has signed into law the National Budget for the fiscal period beginning July 1, 2019 and ending June 30, 2020.
The National Budget, which was signed October 28, 2019 totals LS110,460,000,000.00 or US$526,000,000.00, provides for the expenditure or operational cost of the Government of Liberia.
The National Legislature, following months of intensive deliberations, forwarded the Budget to the office of the President for signing into law.
Earlier, the Executive Branch of the Government through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning submitted the National Budget to the Legislature.
The 2019/20 National Budget accounts for three separate revenue envelopes, including Tax Revenue at US$378,000,000.00, non-Tax Revenue at US$87,200,000.00 as well as External Resources at US$60,800,000.00.
It subsequently becomes law once printed into hand bills by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the passage of the budget at the Senate, Pro Tempore Albert Chie recalled the Senate’s concurrence with the House of Representatives on the passage of the 2019/2020 National Budget of US$526 million, which marked a significant decrease over the 2018/2019 budget.
“It is our belief that this is a realistic budget that can be executed with predictability and efficiency, to prevent or minimize the perennial problem of budget shortfall; this budget will also facilitate the acceptance of our country into the program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which could eventually bring much more benefit to our country,” Chie assured.
Senator Chie further said that the annual wage bill in the budget was cast at approximately US$297 million, which he termed as “very, very much difficulty.” He also thanked workers in the public sector of the country for their understanding shown with the salary harmonization process; “by this process, the salaries of some of our public servants were reduced, some were raised, while some were untouched.”