| NEWS ARTICLE |
| Liberia: Lion's Share of First Peacetime Budget for Welfare |
| BY: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks Posted to the web July 6, 2006 |
Monrovia
Liberia's parliament on Thursday debates President Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf's first but sure-to-please budget, with pledges of
whopping wage increases for civil servants and provisions for
restoring the country's damaged social services.
Rebuilding the war-battered educational, health and justice systems
take the lion's share of the US $120.2 million budget to be spent
from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007.
The budget also offers a 73 percent increase in monthly wages for
government employees, meaning that ordinary government workers
could take home an equivalent of US $26 monthly in comparison to
the current US $15, or 800 Liberian dollars.
After taking office in mid-January following her election victory in
November last year, Sirleaf's administration operated on a recast
budget drawn from the previous fiscal year budget of US $80 million.
Under the new bigger budget, the government plans to spend US
$10.3 million on education, or 7.99 percent. This would go toward
renovating and equipping schools as well as paying teachers'
salaries in a country with an 85 percent illiteracy rate.
Health is the next item, accounting for 5.62 percent or US $ 7.2
million to revamp health facilities and provide incentives for nurses,
doctors and other health workers in a country where the 14-year
war displaced one out of two of the country's three million people.
Liberia's shattered legal system and new post-war security forces,
including the police, comprise the third item on the budget, with US
$ 7.5 million constituting 5.82 percent.
The rebuilding of damaged infrastructure, such as road networks
around Liberia, would take 4.31 percent of the budget, totalling US
$5.5 million.
The new budget will depend on receipt of local revenues, such as
taxes on property and goods and services, as well as revenues
from maritime programmes and taxes on international trade.
Most of Liberia's government revenues in the past were based on
diamond and timber exports, but this income is currently
non-existent due to UN sanctions.
While the export of diamonds remains under UN sanctions, the UN
lifted restrictions on timber exports last month. However, exports
have yet to begin.
In a recent warning, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) said
"absolutely nobody is allowed to produce logs for export since in
fact no one presently owns a concession in Liberia. Anyone caught
exporting logs or sawn timber will face the full weight of the laws of
Liberia relative to such violation."
However, the FDA is putting in place laws and policies that are
subject to legislative approval on the exportation of logs and sawn
timber from Liberia. It remains unclear at this date exactly when
exports will be cleared.
Sirleaf told reporters last week that her budget would mark the
beginning of a six-year term with a development agenda.
In mid-April, she released a short-term agenda entitled "First 150
Days Action Plan: A Working Document for a New Liberia".
The Action Plan was the first phase off a long-term strategy for
reconstruction and development focusing on four areas - the
revitalization the economy, restructuring the country's police and
other security agencies, rebuilding rural infrastructure and roads
networks, and strengthening governance and rule of law.
Liberia's parliament on Thursday debates President Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf's first but sure-to-please budget, with pledges of
whopping wage increases for civil servants and provisions for
restoring the country's damaged social services.
Rebuilding the war-battered educational, health and justice systems
take the lion's share of the US $120.2 million budget to be spent
from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007.
The budget also offers a 73 percent increase in monthly wages for
government employees, meaning that ordinary government workers
could take home an equivalent of US $26 monthly in comparison to
the current US $15, or 800 Liberian dollars.
After taking office in mid-January following her election victory in
November last year, Sirleaf's administration operated on a recast
budget drawn from the previous fiscal year budget of US $80 million.
Under the new bigger budget, the government plans to spend US
$10.3 million on education, or 7.99 percent. This would go toward
renovating and equipping schools as well as paying teachers'
salaries in a country with an 85 percent illiteracy rate.
Health is the next item, accounting for 5.62 percent or US $ 7.2
million to revamp health facilities and provide incentives for nurses,
doctors and other health workers in a country where the 14-year
war displaced one out of two of the country's three million people.
Liberia's shattered legal system and new post-war security forces,
including the police, comprise the third item on the budget, with US
$ 7.5 million constituting 5.82 percent.
The rebuilding of damaged infrastructure, such as road networks
around Liberia, would take 4.31 percent of the budget, totalling US
$5.5 million.
The new budget will depend on receipt of local revenues, such as
taxes on property and goods and services, as well as revenues
from maritime programmes and taxes on international trade.
Most of Liberia's government revenues in the past were based on
diamond and timber exports, but this income is currently
non-existent due to UN sanctions.
While the export of diamonds remains under UN sanctions, the UN
lifted restrictions on timber exports last month. However, exports
have yet to begin.
In a recent warning, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) said
"absolutely nobody is allowed to produce logs for export since in
fact no one presently owns a concession in Liberia. Anyone caught
exporting logs or sawn timber will face the full weight of the laws of
Liberia relative to such violation."
However, the FDA is putting in place laws and policies that are
subject to legislative approval on the exportation of logs and sawn
timber from Liberia. It remains unclear at this date exactly when
exports will be cleared.
Sirleaf told reporters last week that her budget would mark the
beginning of a six-year term with a development agenda.
In mid-April, she released a short-term agenda entitled "First 150
Days Action Plan: A Working Document for a New Liberia".
The Action Plan was the first phase off a long-term strategy for
reconstruction and development focusing on four areas - the
revitalization the economy, restructuring the country's police and
other security agencies, rebuilding rural infrastructure and roads
networks, and strengthening governance and rule of law.
| This report does not necessarily reflect the views of WIMAM |