By Alex Yomah
Ahead of the Liberian Senate’s decision to concur with the House of Representatives on the Recast budget recently passed, members of the Senate alarmed that there is a pressing need for the Executive to prepare itself to buy more rice to address imminent rice shortage issue.
Koung made the assertions when Finance, Development Planning Minister, Samuel Tweah appeared at the Liberian Senate to justify why there is a need to recast the budget.
During the discussions held at the Liberian Senate yesterday, July18, Nimba County Senator, Jeremiah Koung, stressed the need for government to prepare for more monies to avoid imminent shortage of rice.
“Just today again, our people who came from Nimba to Monrovia with an objective of purchasing wholesale rice in huge quantities to market it at retail price in Nimba were demanded to buy extra goods like sugar or other commodities before being allowed to purchase said quantity of rice,” Senator Koung alarmed.
Koung indicated that the reported action by major importers disallowed most of his citizens who never have such huge funds to purchase foods to supply the people of Nimba.
In an effort to avoid this kind of situation, the Senator has recommended to the Ministry of Finance to sit with the Rice Importers and address the issue of rice shortage.
Senators warned against the prevailing conflict; noting that rice is a political commodity that always plunges Liberia into bloodshed, especially when there are reports of imminent shortage, citing the 1979 RICE RIOT.
The Senator’s statement which was buttressed by the majority of the Senators was alarming.
Besides the rice issue raised, the Senator registered his observation with allocating US$11M for the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) and implored government to see reason to place Montserrado in a zone to be given to an individual to control Montserrado and its environs, using Nimba County LEC as an example to solve Montserrado County’s supply of the LEC brawl.
Members of the Senate unanimously rejected the US$2m budgeted to refurbish the ruined Roberts International Airport’s facility as not a reality if Liberia is a country serious to resolve RIA’s issues.
In a communication transmitted to the Legislature by President George Weah, it stated that the submission of the budget is from the backdrop and context that the restatement is necessitated by the need to address urgent and unforeseen National expenditure demands through reprioritization of the country’s spending plan.
The communication mentioned that the economic challenges have become very daunting as the stark realities of spiraling prices of basic commodities take hold in the wake of global economic uncertainties resulting from the Russia and Ukraine crisis.
“The total revenue envelope for the proposed Restated Budget is US$806,587,341, reflecting a net upward adjustment of US$20,000,001, or 2.9 percent over the originally approved budget of US$785, 587,340,” the communication added.
According to the President’s letter the extra fiscal space was yielded through internal reprioritization of existing programs, identifying additional resources, as well as a World Bank Loan of US$15,000,000.
Recurrent expenditure is estimated to be US$ 648,552,000 or seventy-nine percent of total proposed expenditure, while expenditure for public sector investment is estimated to be US$158,035,000 or twenty-one percent of total proposed expenditure.
Additional recurrent allocations have been made in the Restated Budget for critical objects of expenditure such as Pension for Retired Civil Servants, Subsidy for Provision of Electricity and Repayment of a Foreign Obligation that has diminished.
There is a breakdown of recurrent allocations by major expenditure object as captured in the President’s communication to the Senate:
Goods and Services are put at US$4,000,000, Debt Service: 1,500,000 while Social Benefits: 2,500,000 Totaling 8,000,000 as the Public Sector Investment Expenditure highlights allocations for Public Sector Investment Projects (PSIP) in the restatement including allocations for Obligations to the CLSG Electricity Grid, Rice Stabilization, Community Development Project, completion of the 15th Judicial Circuit Court Complex in River Gee County and the 3rd Judicial Circuit Court Complex in Sinoe County and allocation for Solid Waste Management.
The Liberian Chief Executive told the Legislative Body through his Communication dated on Thursday 7th July that Liberians have all observed the potential risk of disadvantaged youths for whom the Gov’t must take actions to reform them.
Thus, his Government has also allocated USD$1,000,000 for an Annual National At-Risk Youth Program. The total amount earmarked for PSIP is USD$33,375,000.
