Monrovia, Liberia – There is a disparity of over US$157 million between the approved budget of Fiscal Year 2023 and the current instrument, as indicated by the Draft National Budget submitted by the Ministry of Finance to the National Legislature for Fiscal Year 2024.
The proposed budget for the amount of US$625.57 million was submitted to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, by Tanneh Geraldine Brunson, the Deputy Finance Minister for Budget and Development Planning, via House Speaker Dr. Bhofal Chambers.
President George Manneh Weah eventually signed the 2023 FY budget into law, which was US$782,943,000, US$5 million more than the Executive’s version.
However, the latest draft document issued by the Executive through the Ministry of Finance and Development, according to our legislative correspondent, is for US$625,570,000, indicating a staggering US$157,373,000 drop.
in order to simplify further legislative activities, the draft budget for FY2024 should have been given to the Legislature in October 2023 in compliance with the Public Financial Management Act. Nonetheless, in order to get the budget, President George Weah has formally asked that the Legislature continue its session for an additional ten days.
During the presentation on Capitol Hill, Minister Brunson initially apologised to the Speaker for the delay in submitting the budget, attributing it to the public attention and distraction caused by the challenging elections in 2023.
She emphasised that the submission process complies with Section 17.1 of the Public Financial Management Act and spans the dates of January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024.
The Deputy Finance Minister for Budget and Development Planning states that 99.6% of the amount, or US$623.14, is expected to come from domestic sources. It is projected that outside sources will provide the remaining US$ 2.43 million, or 0.39 percent.
95 percent of the entire proposed expenditure, or US$ 594.54 million, is expected to come from recurrent spending, according to Minister Brunson. The remaining 5 percent of the expenditure is expected to come from public sector investment projects, which are expected to cost US$31.03 million.
She asserts that the initial assertions regarding the resources that are accessible are concentrated on the categories of required expenses that must be met.
The entire US$ 594.54 million set aside for ongoing expenses, according to her allegations, has been distributed and directed in accordance with the following priority order: grants, employee compensation, debt service (both internal and external), goods and services for the health and education sectors, and so on.
“Honorable Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives, while this budget is a reflection of the programs and priorities of the out-going administration, it should not be unexpected that the incoming administration may institute measures to tweak, recalibrate, or even recast the programs and priorities herein to indicate policy change, hopefully in the spirit of continuity in governance.”
“In the wake of mounting pressures, especially national debt burden and recurrent expenditures, only critical cross-cutting national programs and projects in three sectors have been proposed under the Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP) segment of the budget. Among these is the National Road Fund under the Infrastructure and Basic Services Sector, the Minister added.
House Speaker Dr. Bhofal Chambers demanded that the budget procedure be automatically scheduled after receiving the budget.
Speaker Chambers declared that in the best interests of the nation and its citizens, the legislature would use every effort to guarantee passage.
He said the organisation will closely monitor the Supreme Court’s decision for the government to pay former lawmakers’ arrears.
He claims that in order to maintain collaboration between the three levels of government, the reimbursement to the shipwreck victims will be given top priority during the assessment process.
A thorough review by the Senate and House of Representatives is currently underway, and after all legislative acts, the draft budget for FY2024 will be returned to the Executive via the Office of the President of the Republic of Liberia for approval, making it eligible to become law.
