The IMF on Tuesday announced that it had reached a staff-level agreement on a new program subject to fulfillment of significant prior actions in the fiscal and monetary areas. The agreement between Liberia and the IMF has been in the works for months, preceded by a series of discussions between authorities in Liberia and the IMF negotiation missions in June and September 2019 and, most recently, during 2019 IMF Annual Meetings. The results of most of those discussions centered on the fact that Liberia faces major economic challenges. This budget is underpinned by important reporting and institutional safeguards aimed at preventing slippage and avoiding the re-occurrence of domestic payment arrears. The budget faces tight financing constraints at a time of significantly reduced fiscal buffers and will therefore need to be strictly implemented.

Source: Front Page Africa October 31, 2019 00:45 UTC