## IMF Executive Board Completes the Third Review under the Extended Credit Facility for Liberia, and Approves US$23.64 Million Disbursement _IMF News, November 24, 2021_ ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [IMF Executive Board Completes the Third Review under the Extended Credit Facility for Liberia, and Approves US$23.64 Million Disbursement](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2021/11/24/pr21347-liberia-imf-executive-board-completes-the-third-review-ecf-approves-disbursement) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2021/11/24/pr21347-liberia-imf-executive-board-completes-the-third-review-ecf-approves-disbursement/index.md) - [Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2021/11/24/pr21347-liberia-imf-executive-board-completes-the-third-review-ecf-approves-disbursement/index.json) - [Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2021/11/24/pr21347-liberia-imf-executive-board-completes-the-third-review-ecf-approves-disbursement/bundle-manifest.json) ## Bibliographic details - Published: November 24, 2021 --- ### Overview - Completion of the third review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) enables an immediate disbursement of US$23.64 million. - The four-year ECF arrangement has total access of SDR 155 million (60 percent of quota or about US$214.30 million) and was approved on December 11, 2019. - Completion of the third review brings total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 68 million (US$94.8 million). - On August 23, 2021, Liberia received SDR 247.7 million (US$345.3 million) in the context of the general SDR allocation to the IMF’s membership. - Program objectives: restoring macroeconomic stability to lay foundations for sustainable inclusive growth and addressing weaknesses in governance. ### Program performance and macroeconomic outlook - Program performance described as mixed: favorable fiscal outturn but delays in implementing the structural reform agenda. - Despite COVID-19 challenges, authorities have kept the program broadly on track and maintained macroeconomic stability. - Fiscal and inflation outcomes: - Fiscal deficit slightly declined to 4.2 percent of GDP in 2020, helped by higher grants. - Inflation receded to 13 percent in 2020. - Growth projections: - Economy contracted by 3 percent in 2020. - Economic activity projected to expand by 3.6 percent in 2021, restoring pre-pandemic levels. - The economy "is on track to rebound strongly next year" and the medium-term outlook is favorable conditional on program implementation. - Waivers granted by the Executive Board: - Waiver of nonobservance of the end-December 2020 quantitative performance criterion on net internal reserves based on corrective action. - Waiver of nonobservance of the continuous performance criterion on external arrears of the central government based on its minor nature. ### Policy recommendations and authorities’ commitments (as stated by Mr. Bo Li, Acting Chair and Deputy Managing Director) - Use of new SDR allocation: - Strengthen the reserve position. - Increase spending on the vaccination program. - Support high-quality development projects. - Retire expensive debt. - Fiscal policy priorities: - Contain the wage bill. - Enhance domestic revenue mobilization. - Improve the quality of public spending. - Operationalize a Treasury Single Account. - Authorities committed to refraining from monetary financing of the budget and non-concessional external borrowing. - Timely publication of public procurement information and audits of the government’s Annual Financial Statements remains a priority. - Monetary policy and central bank reforms: - Maintain accommodative monetary policy stance to improve liquidity and support recovery. - Upcoming currency changeover operation requires managing operational risks and further elaboration of a time-bound implementation plan. - Further efforts needed to enhance the central bank’s independence, governance, and transparency. - Financial sector and governance: - Strengthen and develop the financial sector; continue bank restructuring and bolster supervisory toolkit. - Authorities committed to addressing high levels of non-performing loans and weaknesses in the AML/CFT regime. - Fight corruption; accelerate structural reforms to improve the business climate for private sector development. - More rigorous implementation of transparency and governance reforms to ensure tangible results. ### Selected economic indicators and key statistics (2019–26, as presented) - Real sector (annual percent change) - Real GDP: -2.5 (2019), -3.0 (2020), 3.2 (2021 Est. 1st & 2nd Review), 3.6 (2022 Proj.), 4.1 (2023), 4.7 (2024), 4.9 (2025), 5.7 (2026) - Mining & panning: 13.2 (2019), 2.0 (2020), 1.9 (2021), 7.0 (2022), 4.2 (2023), 6.8 (2024), 7.5 (2025), 5.4 (2026) - Non-mining: -4.7 (2019), -3.8 (2020), 3.5 (2021), 2.9 (2022), 5.2 (2023) - Nominal non-mining per capita GDP (U.S. dollars): 554 (2019), 529 (2020), 527 (2021), 584 (2022), 537 (2023), 618 (2024), 625 (2025), 655 (2026), 686, 723 - Nominal GDP (millions of U.S. dollars): 3,080 (2019), 3,037 (2020), 3,107 (2021), 3,426 (2022), 3,247 (2023), 3,698 (2024), 3,847 (2025), 4,143 (2026), 4,464, 4,810 - Inflation (consumer prices) - Annual average: 27.0 (2019), 17.0 (2020), 9.8 (2021), 8.4 (2022), 11.5 (2023), 8.3 (2024), 5.0 (2025) - End of period: 20.3 (2019), 13.1 (2020), 8.0 (2021), 9.7 (2022), 6.0 (2023), 12.3 (2024), 6.4 (2025) - Population (millions): 4.6 (2019), 4.8 (2020), 5.1 (2021), 5.3 (2022) - Central government operations (percent of GDP) - Total revenue and grants: 27.4 (2019), 31.2 (2020), 29.2 (2021), 30.7 (2022), 28.8 (2023), 28.9 (2024), 28.0 (2025), 28.5 (2026), 28.2, 27.7 - Total revenue: 13.9 (2019), 15.8 (2020), 15.3 (2021), 17.8 (2022), 16.6 (2023), 17.2 (2024), 17.4 (2025), 17.7 (2026), 17.9 - Grants: 13.5 (2019), 12.9 (2020), 12.2 (2021), 11.7 (2022), 10.5 (2023), 11.1 (2024) - Total expenditure: 32.2 (2019), 35.4 (2020), 33.1 (2021), 32.9 (2022), 30.0 (2023), 30.2 (2024), 29.6 (2025), 29.1 (2026) - Current expenditure: 21.4 (2019), 25.1 (2020), 21.2 (2021), 22.6 (2022), 19.9 (2023), 19.5 (2024), 18.5 (2025), 18.0 (2026) - Capital expenditure: 10.8 (2019), 10.3 (2020), 11.3 (2021) - Overall fiscal balance, including grants: -4.8 (2019), -4.2 (2020), -2.4 (2021), -4.0 (2022), -2.1 (2023), -1.7 (2024), -1.5 (2025), -1.4 (2026) - Overall fiscal balance, excluding grants: -18.3 (2019), -19.6 (2020), -16.9 (2021), -15.3 (2022), -14.5 (2023), -15.8 (2024), -12.6 (2025), -12.8 (2026), -12.0, -11.2 - Public debt (percent of GDP) - Total public debt: 48.9 (2019), 61.8 (2020), 62.0 (2021), 56.1 (2022), 63.5 (2023), 59.0 (2024), 59.4 (2025), 56.2 (2026), 53.2, 50.1 - Public external debt: 35.2 (2019), 40.9 (2020), 42.8 (2021), 38.3 (2022), 45.2 (2023), 38.1 (2024), 38.7 (2025), 37.4 (2026), 36.8, 36.3 - Public domestic debt: 13.6 (2019), 20.9 (2020), 19.2 (2021), 18.4 (2022), 20.6 (2023), 18.8 (2024), 16.4 (2025) - Monetary and financial indicators - M2/GDP: 25.5 (2019), 22.3 (2020), 24.6 (2021), 23.6 (2022), 24.2 (2023) - Credit to private sector (percent of GDP): 16.1 (2019), 16.2 (2020), 17.3 (2021) - Credit to private sector (annual percent change): -11.3 (2019), 5.5 (2020), 4.0 (2021), 12.7 (2022), 9.4 (2023), 7.9 (2024), 8.1 (2025), 8.2 (2026) - External sector (percent of GDP) - Current account balance including grants: -16.3 (2019), -22.2 (2020), -17.9 (2021), -22.6 (2022), -18.9 (2023), -19.9 (2024), -19.3 (2025), - (2026) - Current account balance excluding grants: -25.0 (2019), -23.7 (2020), -36.1 (2021), -34.8 (2022), -24.1 (2023), -24.2 (2024), -24.6 (2025), -23.8 (2026), -22.5 - Trade balance: -12.9 (2019), -10.8 (2020), -10.2 (2021), -9.4 (2022), -7.1 (2023), -4.3 (2024) - Exports: 17.5 (2019), 20.0 (2020), 14.9 (2021), 23.1 (2022), 23.3 (2023), 23.7 (2024), 23.2 (2025), 24.3 (2026), 26.3 - Imports: -30.3 (2019), -32.9 (2020), -33.8 (2021), -35.7 (2022), -33.2 (2023), -34.1 (2024), -32.6 (2025), -31.4 (2026), -30.6 - Grants (donor transfers, net): 7.3 (2019), 4.4 (2020), 4.5 (2021) - Gross official reserves (millions of U.S. dollars): 292 (2019), 358 (2020), 403 (2021), 716 (2022), 429 (2023), 719 (2024), 769 (2025), 779 (2026), 811, 846 - Months of next year’s imports: 2.2 (2019), 2.3 (2020), 3.0 (2021), 4.3 (2022), 3.8 (2023) - CBL's net int'l reserves (millions of U.S.): 27 (2019), 0 (2020), 70 (2021), 392 (2022), 75 (2023), 362 (2024), 401 (2025), 444 (2026), 504, 575 *Press Release No. 21/347, November 24, 2021 — IMF Communications Department.* --- ## References - [Liberia and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/LBR/index.htm) - [Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) -- A Factsheet](https://www.imf.org/en/about/factsheets/sheets/2023/special-drawing-rights-sdr) - [Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews) - [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/) - [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home) _Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2021/11/24/pr21347-liberia-imf-executive-board-completes-the-third-review-ecf-approves-disbursement_