The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has been authorized to print over L$48 billion new family of banknotes as the Legislature has given its blessing to the process.
Yesterday, the Liberian Senate overwhelmingly concurred with the House of Representatives during an extraordinary session presided over by the President Pro-tempore Albert Chie.
Lawmakers representing the four Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) in the Liberian Senate raised several issues which according to them were needed to have been addressed before the document passes that body or before they can affix their signatures thereto.
The CCP lawmakers were stressing mainly on the system and control mechanism derived by the CBL, that the CBL provides detailed report on the L$4 billion that was printed a year ago and that there should be absolutely no money printed during 2023, which is the year for the presidential and legislative elections across the country.
While Montserrado County’s Senator Abraham Dillon proposed that the CBL allows Liberians who are involved in money exchange to liquidate whatever amount they may have hoarded during the time of the replacement exercise because there is no crime for hoarding.
Hoarding is a form of creating artificial scarcity of legal tender and also a form of creating self-vaults home to hoard huge amount of money outside of the banking sector.
Senator Dillon further stated that the CBL should avoid mandating citizens to open new accounts before being allowed to replace money while Grand Bassa County Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence was interested in getting assurance from the CBL regarding its internal control mechanism that would avoid bulk of the money being remaining outside the banking sector.
She expressed that there is an issue of confidence crisis since there have been no report on the 4 billion that was printed yet an additional L$48.733 billion is being requested.
But the Co-Chairperson on the Joint Committee of the Senate who scrutinized the joint legislative resolution, Senator Prince Moye encouraged his colleagues to approve the CBL’s request as by doing so will show patriotism over individualism.