Monrovia, Liberia Treasury David Loevinger

FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS December 8, 2004 JS-2133

Statement of U.S. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary David Loevinger
Monrovia, Liberia, December 8, 2004

During December 7-8, I met with Liberia's economic leaders, including Chairman Bryant, Finance Minister Lusinee Kamara, Minister for Planning and Economic Affairs, Christian Herbert, and Acting Executive Governor of the Central Bank, Charles Greene. I want to thank Chairman Bryant and his team for their gracious hospitality. I also want to thank Ambassador Blaney, whose tireless efforts have ensured that we in Washington are not distracted by events elsewhere in the world.

The U.S. Treasury Department has devoted significant resources to helping Liberia recover and grow. In Africa, Liberia is the largest recipient of technical assistance from the Treasury Department because we believe that peace will be sustained only if there is economic growth and job creation. This will require disciplined, transparent and accountable monetary and fiscal policies. That is why we have provided advisors to the Ministry of Finance, the Bureau of the Budget, and the Central Bank. The Treasury Department is also working closely with the IMF, World Bank, and the African Development Bank to create conditions for these institutions to once again provide resources to create jobs and reduce poverty.

The Transitional Government of Liberia has made important progress in restoring growth (expected to be over 20% this year) and improving people's lives. As one example, increased competition in cellular telecommunications has cut costs to consumers significantly. Increased competition in other sectors could lead to similar results.

But I must tell my Liberian friends that, despite some very useful reforms taken by the NTGL and the progress made, there remain too many instances where actions of a few individuals cost the Liberian people dearly and undermine the ability of donors, the IMF and the Multilateral Development Banks to reengage with Liberia. Too many revenues still never make it into the government's budget, particularly from the port. And too much of the money collected continues to be spent outside of agreed budgetary procedures. Government officials must be held accountable for transparent management of public resources. This is important to donors, but even more important to the welfare of the Liberian people. It is their money.

My visit to the Finance Ministry highlighted both the progress that has been made. A large taxpayers unit is making strides in ensuring that businesses pay their fair share. I observed deliberations of the Cash Management Committee, which was created to ensure that the government spends only the resources it has, does not again run up arrears, and allocates scarce resources to priority areas. However, there continues to be spending that does not conform with the committee's recommendations.