Liberia: House Passes US$759M Restated Budget, Awaits Senate

The House of Representatives has approved President George Weah’s request for a restated budget of  US$759.4 million as a result of a US$23 million shortfall.

The House decision came four months after it concurred with the Senate to pass a budget of US$ 782.9 million for the fiscal year 2023, which is far short of the US$1 billion mark envisioned by the government.

The decision yesterday also came 14 days after the President’s request, which he said was needed to address economic challenges and meet the pressing needs of the nation. 

Weah who blamed the confluence of reduction in the volume of trade, expiration of surcharge on petroleum, and reduction of tariff on excise on petroleum as factors that necessitated the request,  had submitted the revised budget to accommodate unforeseen circumstances, and the president assured the nation that it would be instrumental in steering the country towards a path of progress and development.

“To ensure that year-end spending is in line with available resources, adjustments in spending entities' program allocation balances have been made such that the risk is absorbed by all and sundry,” Weah said in a letter to the House as he made the request for recasting.  “The realization of the aggregate amount of US$23.5 million has been deemed a risk and untenable. 

“The total adjusted recurrent expenditure is estimated at US$612. 5 million or 80.7 percent of the total proposed expenditure. The revised expenditure estimate for public sector investment is US$146. 8 million or 19.3 percent of the total proposed expenditure.”

The shortfall which would affect existing funding for education, healthcare, and infrastructure development and impose additional burdens on Liberians, especially on those already struggling to make ends meet, comes as  Liberia’s fiscal position worsened in 2022. 

The overall fiscal deficit widened to 6.9 percent of GDP in 2022, up from 2.4 percent in 2021, with the increase entirely driven by the primary deficit that rose from 1.5 percent of GDP in 2021 to 6.0 percent in 2022, the World Bank in a new report on the country’s economy disclosed. 

 External grants, according to the Bank, declined by 3.1 percentage points of GDP, partly reflecting the change in International Development Association (IDA) lending policies for countries at moderate risk of debt distress under IDA20. 

It added that beyond the decline in grants, domestic revenue fell by 1.2 percentage points, reflecting the poor performance of the goods and services tax (GST) and taxes on international trade. 

“On the expenditure side, the provision of subsidies, grants, and social benefits was increased by 1.4 percentage points of GDP to offset the effect of the higher food and fuel prices on the economy and households,” the Bank disclosed. 

“Additionally, government consumption spending increased by 0.2 percentage points of GDP to 10.4 percent. The fiscal deficit was mainly financed by concession resources, including the World Bank Group budget support, as well as borrowing from commercial banks,” it added. 

Domestic revenue, which had been rising steadily since 2019, declined in 2022, to 15.2 percent of GDP, from 16.4 percent in 2021, the Bank said in its report titled Liberia Economic Update: “Getting Rice Right for Productivity and Poverty Alleviation.

The decline, according to the report,  was driven by tax revenue, mainly international trade taxes and taxes on goods and services; as a result, Liberia’s tax-to-GDP ratio fell to 12.3 percent of GDP, down from 13.7 percent in 2021.

It added that government expenditures on goods and services increased from 10.2 percent of GDP in 2021 to 10.4 percent while spending on subsidies, transfers, and social benefits increased by 1.4 percentage points of GDP to 3.7 percent of GDP.

“On the other hand, non-tax revenue increased slightly, by 0.2 percentage points, to 2.9 percent of GDP in 2022, albeit 1.0 percentage points lower than expected. Total grants also fell significantly, to 7.8 percent of GDP, from 10.9 percent in 2021, partly a reflection of the change in the IDA lending policy for countries at moderate risk of debt distress under IDA20.4 

“Consequently, total revenue and grants declined from 27.3 percent of GDP in 2021 to 23.0 percent in 2022. Despite steps to contain the public sector wage bill, total expenditure, and net lending increased slightly from 29.7 percent of GDP in 2021 to 29.9 percent in 2022,” the Bank said in the report. 

The report, which is the Bank's 4th assessment of the country’s recent economic developments are intended to assist the government and its development partners in identifying emerging issues and addressing persistent challenges.