MONROVIA – Deputy Presidential Press Secretary Smith Toby has disclosed that President George Weah would in October appoint a new Governor of the Central Bank and restructure the leadership of the Bank.
Mr. Toby’s disclosure comes at the expiration of the timeline that Pres. Weah had given to retire Executive Governor Nathaniel Patray for his early retirement.
President Weah in May this year said Patray would be retired in three months period, paving the way for the appointment of a new bank official.
The Liberian leader told the nation that his government was going to open nominations for a vetting committee to appoint the bank’s new leadership.
President Weah said the overhaul was necessary to restore confidence in an institution that has been beset by scandals and is hampering efforts to deal with an economic crisis.
The President, in July 2018, ordered a $25-million injection into the economy to mop-up excess Liberian dollars. An investigation by the state auditor found that only $17 million was used for this purpose. Another inquiry, the USAID-backed Kroll report into the alleged disappearance of about $100 million in cash that was printed abroad found that while no money was missing, there were lapses in the accuracy and completeness of the central bank’s internal records.
The President said, all of these reports point to a major lapse of controls at the CBL and “calls into question the ability of its present leadership to effectively revamp its internal mechanism to provide greater accountability and professionalism.”
In a related development, Mr. Toby further said the president will also announce a new Agriculture Minister, who has the tenacity to promote the government pro-poor agenda through the revamping of the agriculture sector.