## IMF Executive Board Completes Fourth Review under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement and Concludes the 2022 Article IV Consultation for Liberia _IMF News, August 24, 2022_ ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [IMF Executive Board Completes Fourth Review under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement and Concludes the 2022 Article IV Consultation for Liberia](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2022/08/24/pr22290-imf-executive-board-completes-credit-concludes-2022-article-iv-consultation-liberia) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2022/08/24/pr22290-imf-executive-board-completes-credit-concludes-2022-article-iv-consultation-liberia/index.md) - [Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2022/08/24/pr22290-imf-executive-board-completes-credit-concludes-2022-article-iv-consultation-liberia/index.json) - [Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2022/08/24/pr22290-imf-executive-board-completes-credit-concludes-2022-article-iv-consultation-liberia/bundle-manifest.json) ## Bibliographic details - Published: August 24, 2022 --- ### Program and financing - The four-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement has total access of SDR 155 million (60 percent of quota or about US$214.30 million). - The IMF Executive Board approved the arrangement on December 11, 2019. - Today's decision allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 17 million (about US$ 22.1 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 85 million (about US$ 110.7 million). - In completing the fourth review, the Executive Board granted a waiver of nonobservance of the end-June 2021 quantitative performance criterion on net international reserves, based on corrective action taken by the authorities. ### Economic outlook and risks - Liberia experienced a strong economic recovery in 2021. - Global developments will dampen economic growth to 3.7 percent this year. - Heightened global uncertainties and commodity price shocks are pushing inflation into the double-digits. - Liberia’s COVID-19 vaccination program has accelerated in recent months, but pandemic-related risks, including a potential outbreak of new variants, remain. - The upcoming political cycle with presidential and parliamentary elections is scheduled for September 2023 and is a source of uncertainty. ### Program performance and structural reforms - Quantitative program performance was quite strong while the implementation of the structural reform agenda incurred delays. - Adoption of new anti-corruption legislation was identified as good progress. - The authorities preserved macroeconomic stability, ensured a comfortable international reserve position, and maintained debt sustainability despite delays with the broad-based reform agenda. - The 2022 supplementary budget aims primarily to mitigate pressures on food prices and stabilize the state-owned electricity company. - To limit the temporary widening of the fiscal deficit, authorities streamlined non-priority spending while largely preserving a significant increase of public investment relative to previous years, facilitated by partial use of the IMF’s 2021 SDR allocation to Liberia. ### Policy recommendations and priorities (statements by Mr. Bo Li, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair) - Press ahead with fiscal structural reforms to: - make public services and public enterprises more efficient; - secure more permanent space for adequate public investment while preserving debt sustainability. - Build on progress in mobilizing domestic revenues, including by streamlining tax exemptions. - Renew impetus to address capacity constraints that hamper selection, preparation, and execution of public investment projects. - Modernize Liberia’s monetary policy framework and continue the ongoing currency changeover, ensuring operational risks are appropriately mitigated to strengthen macroeconomic stability. - Step up the fight against corruption; swift implementation of recently adopted measures is key. Recent measures include: - the amended Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) Act; - the new Whistleblower and Witness Protection Act; - the revised Code of Conduct. - Strengthen the growth leg of the reform program by: - implementing pro-growth fiscal reforms and anti-corruption measures; - fully executing plans to improve the business climate and enable greater access to credit, including by facilitating the resolution of non-performing loans; - improving educational attainment; - adapting to climate change; and - addressing gender disparities. ### Selected macroeconomic and fiscal indicators (as presented) - Real GDP (annual percent changes and projections): -2.5; -3.0; 3.6; 5.0; 4.7; 3.7; 4.9; 5.7; 5.5; 5.6. - Mining & panning (annual percent changes): 13.2; 2.0; 7.0; 17.6; 7.1; 4.3; 5.8; 7.5; 4.6; 5.2. - Non-mining (annual percent changes): -4.7; -3.8; 2.9; 2.8; 3.0; 4.8; 5.4. - Nominal non-mining per capita GDP (U.S. dollars): 531; 507; 584; 567; 618; 625; 659; 653; 677; 710; 750. - Nominal GDP (millions of U.S. dollars): 3,080; 3,037; 3,426; 3,509; 3,698; 3,938; 3,847; 4,236; 4,339; 4,636; 4,968; 5,354. - Consumer prices (end of period): 20.3; 13.1; 9.7; 12.3; 11.7; 6.4; 6.9. - Population (millions): 5.1; 5.3; 6.0. - Central government operations (percent of GDP): Total revenue and grants: 27.4; 31.3; 30.7; 27.3; 28.9; 24.2; 28.0; 24.1; 24.0; 24.7; 24.9. - Total revenue (percent of GDP): 13.9; 15.9; 17.8; 16.4; 17.2; 17.4; 16.1; 16.3; 16.7; 17.1. - Grants (percent of GDP): 13.5; 15.3; 12.9; 10.9; 7.8; 10.5; 8.0; 7.7; 7.6. - Total expenditure (percent of GDP): 32.2; 35.1; 33.1; 29.7; 32.9; 29.1; 30.0; 27.6; 27.7; 28.5; 28.7. - Current expenditure (percent of GDP): 21.4; 24.5; 22.6; 21.9; 21.2; 20.9; 19.5; 19.2; 19.3; 19.8; 19.9. - Capital expenditure (percent of GDP): 10.8; 10.6; 8.3; 8.4; 8.5; 8.6; 8.8. - Overall balance, including grants (percent of GDP): -4.8; -2.4; -4.0; -5.0; -2.1; -3.5; -3.7. - Overall balance, excluding grants (percent of GDP): -18.3; -19.2; -15.3; -13.3; -15.8; -12.7; -12.6; -11.5; -11.4; -11.3. - Total public debt (nominal, percent of GDP): 48.5; 58.7; 56.1; 53.2; 59.0; 54.6; 59.4; 55.3; 56.9; 56.4; 55.6; 54.8. - Public external debt (percent of GDP): 34.9; 41.1; 38.3; 37.2; 38.1; 38.8; 38.7; 40.3; 42.9; 43.9; 44.9; 46.0. - Public domestic debt (percent of GDP): 13.6; 17.9; 16.0; 15.8; 20.6; 15.0; 14.0; 12.5; 10.7. - M2/GDP (percent): 25.5; 24.6; 23.6; 24.8; 25.1. - Credit to private sector (percent of GDP): 14.8; 16.6; 14.9; 15.2; 17.0. - Credit to private sector (annual percent change): 12.7; 4.4; 9.4; 12.8; 7.9; 9.3; 9.5. - Current account balance, including grants (percent of GDP): -19.6; -16.4; -17.9; -17.7; -18.9; -16.0; -19.9; -15.1; -14.9; -14.8; -14.6. - Current account balance, excluding grants (percent of GDP): -25.0; -23.7; -22.6; -24.1; -19.1; -24.2; -18.2; -17.6; -17.3. - Trade balance (percent of GDP): -12.8; -12.9; -13.1; -10.8; -10.6; -10.2; -9.6; -8.6; -8.5; -7.9. - Exports (percent of GDP): 17.5; 20.0; 23.1; 25.0; 23.3; 24.3; 23.7; 24.4. - Imports (percent of GDP): -30.3; -32.9; -35.7; -38.1; -34.1; -34.9; -33.8; -33.9; -33.0; -32.5; -31.2. - Grants (donor transfers, net): 7.3; 3.1; 2.7. - Gross official reserves (millions of U.S. dollars): 292; 358; 716; 700; 719; 691; 769; 784; 828; 881; 927. - In months of next year's imports: 2.2; 4.2; 4.0. - Net international reserves (millions of U.S. dollars): 27; 0; 392; 387; 362; 352; 401; 384; 451; 523; 611; 690. *IMF Press Release No. 22/290, August 24, 2022* --- ## References - [Bo Li](https://www.imf.org/en/About/senior-officials/Bios/bo-li) - [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/) - [Extended Credit Facility](https://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2016/08/02/21/04/Extended-Credit-Facility) - [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home) _Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2022/08/24/pr22290-imf-executive-board-completes-credit-concludes-2022-article-iv-consultation-liberia_