Liberia Gets US$65M World Bank Loan to Finance Resilient Recovery Development Policy
The World Bank and the Government of Liberia have signed a US$65 million loan for Resilient Recovery Stand-Alone Development Policy Financing.
According to the Agreement, the program is aimed at supporting the Government of Liberia's efforts to promote resilient recovery through the two pillars of: (i) laying the institutional and policy foundations in selected growth-supporting and resilience-enhancing sectors; and (ii) promoting transparency and accountability in the public sector.
Furthermore, the reforms under the first pillar seek to improve resilience to shocks and conditions for inclusive growth through the development of an effective mechanism to manage food reserve stocks to strengthen food crisis preparedness planning, bolstering of domestic revenue mobilization, and improvements in the road sector efficiency and governance and the quality of land administration systems.
The second pillar seeks to promote transparency and accountability in the public sector, with a focus on improving debt transparency and strengthening the country's procurement systems and anti-corruption framework.
Additionally, the operation will also support efforts aimed at addressing debt vulnerabilities under the sustainable development finance policy.
Liberia's Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Samuel D. Tweah, signed on behalf of the Government of Liberia, while World Bank's Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Dr. Pierre Laporte, signed on behalf of the Bank.
Tweah lauded the World Bank for its continuous support towards the implementation of Liberia's development agenda, asserting that with the efficient and robust utilization of domestic resources and support from development partners (including the World Bank), the government has made some significant development gains.
He said under 6 years of this government, the road pavement ratio has doubled from 6 to 11.
Tweah also named increasing access to electricity and decreasing costs for consumers as key priorities for the Government's development initiatives.
For his part, the World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Pierre Laporte described the signing as a tangible manifestation of our collective efforts to support Liberia's resilience and recovery from the various shocks it has encountered, including the devastating impacts of the rising inflation and interest rates and the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added, “this Resilient Recovery Development Policy Financing (RRDPO) represents a pivotal moment in our collaboration with the Government of Liberia as we work together to reignite sustainable and inclusive private sector-led growth, while enhancing public-sector transparency and accountability.”
He further said that a key objective of the program is to promote resilient recovery by establishing the required institutional and policy foundations in selected growth-supporting and resilience-enhancing sectors.
The signing ceremony took place on June 19 at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial complex.