President Joseph Boakai and the Immediate past President George Weah, are now at odds over the true state of the country’s economy, leading to a public debate that has captured the nation’s attention.
But prior to Boakai’s inauguration, former President Weah in his farewell message, reported on the financial standing of the country, in terms of what the government is leaving in the national coffers.
Weah said, “I must report to you that we are leaving behind a better economy than we inherited. Tomorrow, President-elect Joseph N. Boakai will inherit a stronger economy than I inherited in 2018.”
He noted, “There is a bigger net international reserve position than was handed to me in 2018. I inherited about US$94,999 in net international reserves, and I am handing over to the next administration a net international reserve position of US$220,700. This is a 136 percent increment in net international reserve position.”
He added that the total cash balance in the Government’s Consolidated accounts is US$40,440,365.90, disclosing that his government inherited a consolidated cash position of about US$7,000,000 in 2018, and that the incoming administration has more resources to deal with emergency macroeconomic challenges than his administration had at its disposal in 2018.”
But in his inaugural speech, President Boakai said he is committed to ensuring that the country revise the broken economy his administration is inheriting, coupled with the poor education system, fragile health sector, broken security, and the deplorable road conditions across the nation, precisely the southern part of Liberia.
President Boakai assured Liberians that his government will audit the government of former President George Weah, stressing, “My fellow Liberians, as I said during my campaign, we will ensure that we audit the former government so as to know what we are inheriting, in the spirit of transparency and accountability.”
