The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has announced the arrival of L$4 billion to commence the introduction of the family of Liberian dollar currency.
The money is part of L$48.734 billion notes intended to change the country’s currency.
The first batch of this amount is said to be in the 100 dollars, which comes at a time when the country’s old currency is in short supply and vastly mutilated.
The arrival of the new 100 Liberian Dollar banknotes according to the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) Executive Governor, J. Aloysius Tarlue is an important milestone in addressing the persistent liquidity challenges that the Liberian economy has faced over the years.
He said that the CBL will continue to work to ease the liquidity challenges at commercial banks, mainly during the festive season and therefore, there is no need to panic and rush on banks for the new money.
The arrival of the new banknotes at the Roberts International Airport was witnessed by the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Banking and Currency, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative to Liberia, Representatives of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Dr. Patrick Conteh, the Resident Advisor to the CBL.
At the point of arrival at the Roberts International Airport (RIA), the IMF, USAID representatives, and the legislators, together with CBL governors, verified that the number of boxes containing the money were consistent with the numbers shared by the manufacturer when uploaded into the aircraft.
The International Partners, together with members of the Management,
Technical Committee for Currency Reform (TCCR), Internal CBL Auditors, also verified each marked box against its number on the files, as the conveyor belt rolled them unto trucks.
The money has been was safely secured in the vaults of the CBL Headquarters on Friday, November 26, 2021 where the second round of verification took place to ensure that the number of marked boxes received and loaded into trucks at the RIA added up to the total number of boxes delivered at the CBL.
The CBL and Kroll will undertake a full technical validation process of the new banknotes in the coming days, to ensure they comply with the contractual specifications.
Following the validation process, CBL will make the new banknotes available to the Liberian public through the commercial banks for the festive season.
The new banknotes are part of L$48.734 billion approved by the National Legislature in May this year to be printed and minted.
CBL has engaged a broad range of stakeholders, including commercial banks, Liberia Business Association, Liberia Chambers of Commerce, nonbank financial institutions, including mobile money agents, money exchangers, microfinance institutions, as well as the Civil Servants Association, National Teachers Association, National Traditional Council of Liberia, Federation of Liberian Youths, and the National Civil Society Council of Liberia, explaining the currency change over process.
CBL also launched its public education community town hall meetings across the country on November 15, 2021, in Nyein Town, in Todee District, Montserrado County to educate citizens and foreign residents on the currency change over process.
The Bank assures the public and all stakeholders its full commitment to promote transparency and accountability at the CBL and ensure the availability of money in the banks.