Liberia says it is making progress on meeting international benchmarks to qualify for a waiver of its huge external debt.
The country, emerging from 14 years of civil war, has said it is unable to pay back US $3.7 billion dollars in arrears accumulated by past governments and has appealed for a waiver to fulfill peacetime developmental goals.
Liberia's Ministry of Finance blamed an additional US $700 million in domestic arrears on "doubtful transactions", or graft.
Finance Minister Antoinette Sayeh recently said that Liberia has introduced a Multinational Debt Relief Initiative under the supervision of major creditors.
"The intention is to reduce the debt stock to a minimum level that Liberia is able to service," she said.
But she added that the debt-relief process was lengthy and could take more than two years. Under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC), Liberia has an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Staff Monitoring Programme that began in April and is to end in September.
This programme requires strict adherence to budgetary procedures and closing up loopholes that have facilitated corruption and bled the country of revenues in the past.
The Finance Ministry says the government has exceeded its revenue collection against an earlier projection.
"Revenue projection from February to June was estimated at US $38.85 million, but actual revenue collected is US $45.13 million," the ministry said.
The government attributed the increase to measures such as closing loopholes for tax evasion and clamping down on misappropriation of collected revenue.
Several audit reports of government agencies commissioned by the European Union and the 15-Nation West African regional block (ECOWAS) highlighted tax exemptions to private businesses granted by officials in the former power-sharing transitional government.
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The country, emerging from 14 years of civil war, has said it is unable to pay back US $3.7 billion dollars in arrears accumulated by past governments and has appealed for a waiver to fulfill peacetime developmental goals.
Liberia's Ministry of Finance blamed an additional US $700 million in domestic arrears on "doubtful transactions", or graft.
Finance Minister Antoinette Sayeh recently said that Liberia has introduced a Multinational Debt Relief Initiative under the supervision of major creditors.
"The intention is to reduce the debt stock to a minimum level that Liberia is able to service," she said.
But she added that the debt-relief process was lengthy and could take more than two years. Under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC), Liberia has an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Staff Monitoring Programme that began in April and is to end in September.
This programme requires strict adherence to budgetary procedures and closing up loopholes that have facilitated corruption and bled the country of revenues in the past.
The Finance Ministry says the government has exceeded its revenue collection against an earlier projection.
"Revenue projection from February to June was estimated at US $38.85 million, but actual revenue collected is US $45.13 million," the ministry said.
The government attributed the increase to measures such as closing loopholes for tax evasion and clamping down on misappropriation of collected revenue.
Several audit reports of government agencies commissioned by the European Union and the 15-Nation West African regional block (ECOWAS) highlighted tax exemptions to private businesses granted by officials in the former power-sharing transitional government.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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