MONROVIA – The Liberian Senate Wednesday concluded its two weeks extraordinary session with the establishment of a committee consisting of six Senators, chaired by Senator Varney G. Sherman of Grand Cape Mount County, to gather appropriate information, conduct economic analysis and propose ways which could assist in the revival of the economy.
The select committee would have extensive discussions with various economic experts such as former bank executives, former fiscal managers of the economy, entrepreneurs and present financial actors. One of the key recommendations of the Select Committee is for the Central Bank, through the President of Liberia, to obtain authorization from the Legislature for the immediate printing of LD$ 4 billion, to have it immediately infused into the economy, through the commercial banks, as the Central Bank takes steps to build confidence in the banking sector so that those Liberian holding huge sums of Liberian Dollars Banknotes can return those monies to the commercial banks.
According to Senate Pro-Tempore Albert Chie, the Senate is concerned about the current state of the economy and the potential threat of its non-performance to national security. According to him, the special session dealt primarily with the state of the Liberian economy and a few national house-keeping issues which were placed on the Senate agenda and which the Senate graciously accepted.
“As I conclude, let me once more thank the citizens of this country for their patience and understanding as their leaders deal with the bad state of our economy. Government is committed to the payment of salaries for the months of October and November during this festive session and salaries will be normalized by the end of February, that is, public servants will receive their February salaries at the end of February, God willing.”
– Senate Pro-Tempore, Albert Chie
“The Liberian economy is presently experiencing difficulty on the account of the factors I enumerated in my opening statement at the start of this special session. I also indicated then that the Central Bank of Liberia, which should have provided an environment of microeconomic stability, is deeply troubled.
“Several professional reports commissioned by the government have recommended the strengthening of internal controls at the CBL and the taking of steps to re-enforce the administrative dynamism at the Bank.
“To that end, the President of Liberia had recommended Mr. Aloysius Tarlue, to the Senate, as Executive Governor of the CBL. We are pleased to officially inform the public that the Liberian Senate has confirmed Mr. Tarlue to that position which will give him the opportunity to serve his nation and people and head a team of dedicated professionals who we hope will drive the national effort to once restore confidence in the banking sector.”
He further confirmed that the request to print L$4 billion of additional Liberian dollars banknotes has been received from the CBL through the Presidents of Liberia and the Liberian Senate have accordingly approved the request.
Meanwhile, the Senate has once more declined to approve the earlier request from CBL to print 35 billion dollars of new family of Liberian dollar currency; this request is still in committee room and discussion on this request will continue next year.
Sen. Chief“May we use this opportunity to thank the IMF for admitting Liberia into its program and the Senate pledges its fullest cooperation to ensure the success of this program in our Country. We wish to thank all of our citizens whose sacrifices made the entry of Liberia into this program possible.
“As I conclude, let me once more thank the citizens of this country for their patience and understanding as their leaders deal with the bad state of our economy. Government is committed to the payment of salaries for the months of October and November during this festive session and salaries will be normalized by the end of February, that is, public servants will receive their February salaries at the end of February, God willing.”