Economic experts in Liberia may not doubt the soccer prowess of President George Weah but they certainly have reservations about his competence in managing the country’s economy. Following the President’s address on Tuesday on the state of the Liberian economy, two financial and economic experts have flayed his proposals, insisting that they will not yield the desired result.
A former international banker in Monrovia described the President’s plans as superficial measures that have no capacity to alleviate the astronomical economic challenges that Liberia currently faces. In his words, “I think the President needs to think outside the box. With the news circulating that huge sums of Liberian banknotes are being counterfeited by some unscrupulous individuals across the country, infusing $25 million dollars into the country’s economy in an effort to ease the rising hardship could reward pushers of counterfeit,” the banker said.
In the address, President Weah had said, “I am fully aware of the negative impact of the declining exchange rate on the economic well-being of the Liberian people, and the serious hardship that this is beginning to cause.”
He elaborated his government’s plan to mitigate the growing economic crisis, including: “An immediate infusion by the Central Bank of $25 million into the economy to mop up the excess liquidity of Liberian dollars and mandating the apex bank to provide more effective supervision and regulation of money-changers or foreign exchange bureau”.
President Weah also mandated the Central Bank to provide more robust oversight of banks under its supervision, among others. But the economic experts believe that the government’s focus will not achieve anything.
