Monrovia – A day after some fifty new employees were reportedly added to its payroll, the Central Bank of Liberia has with immediate effect placed a freeze on employment.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
An internal memo from Governor Nathaniel Patray obtained by FrontPageAfrica Tuesday said the following: “All matters related to promotion, salary increment and other issues of staff benefits must be handled in line with the bank’s policy through the Staff Performance Appraisal and Merit System. Management shall take stringent actions, including termination of services against any staff found to be in violations of the foregoing. Absolutely no staff shall receive applications, initiate or entertain any communications/discussions relating to employment, promotion, salary benefit increase at the CBL, except expressly authorized to do so.
Ironically, Patray, according to sources has been the mastermind of a lot of new hires in recent days. A source at the CBL told FPA Tuesday that about 275 to 300 new hires have been placed on payroll since Mr. Patray was appointed last July to replace Dr. Milton Weeks.
Governor Patray has reportedly increased the number of employees since he became governor by about 75%.
.
A FrontPageAfrica reporter who visited the bank over the past week observe that cubicles have been placed in the lobbies on almost every floor to accommodate the new employees.
Two supervisors who spoke to FPA on condition of anonymity said that there is no work for some of the employees or even places to sit and work; therefore, some just sign and leave for the day and collect checks or direct deposit at the end of the month.
The source explained that Governor Patray has deviated from the policy of the bank and created several director positions that are conflicting or unnecessary.
FrontPageAfrica has also gathered from some of the employees that in some cases, the governor has promoted messengers to directors with huge salaries.
The finance department and some of the officials at the bank are quietly expressing concerns that the bank may not meet its payroll few months from now if nothing is done about what is going on at the bank.
Key among the concerns expressed to FPA: Did the CBL’s board approve of the new employments, particularly new directors’ positions that have been created by the governor.
The matter, one source told FPA Tuesday that it has reached the level of the presidency which raised the issue with the Governor leading to the freeze Tuesday.
Critics of the process have been raising concerns that a strategic and technical area of the government’s economy is being flooded with incompetent staffing at a time when the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other international stakeholders have been suggesting serious changes in the banking and finance sector of government.
Between February 25 and March 8 this year, an IMF team led by Mika Saito, visited Monrovia from to conduct discussions for the 2019 Article IV Consultation with Liberia and held discussions with President Weah, Speaker of the House of Representatives Bhofal Chambers, Minister of Finance and Development Planning Samuel Tweah, Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia Nathaniel Patray, Minister of Commerce and Industry Professor Wilson Tarpeh, other senior government officials, private sector representatives, and development partners.
The team reported that Macroeconomic stability has proven elusive despite improved revenue collection in the first half of FY2019, while the fiscal stance has loosened significantly.
The team raised the alarm that productive spending is being crowded out by a wage bill, including discretionary allowances, that totals about two-thirds of government-funded expenditure. “This is not a new issue—it has been a characteristic of the Liberian economy for a number of years. However, as grants and other external assistance decline, this is no longer a tenable situation. Freeing up resources in an equitable manner for pro-poor development will likely require effective actions to reduce the share of government resources devoted to this budget item.”
This is why flooding the CBL’s payroll with new and unqualified hires in recent days have been sparking concerns.
The IMF team said improving the efficiency of government spending will be key and stressed that policies should aim at improving the monitoring, accountability, and transparency of spending. “Intensifying actions to improve governance and fight corruption, including through rigorous adherence to existing procurement rules, would also be effective.”
The CBL is tasked with maintaining price stability in the Liberian economy and has the functional independence, power and authority to issue legal tender banknotes and coins, administering the currency laws and regulating the supply of money, providing credit to the bank-financial institutions on a discretionary basis and act as a fiscal agent for the government. The bank also plays an active role in collaborating with bank-financial institutions in the creation and maintenance of efficient and safe mechanisms for payments, clearing and settlements to meet the needs of the financial markets, commerce, government agencies and the general public.