Abstract
LIBERIA
LIBERIA
STAFF REPORT FOR THE 2022 ARTICLE IV CONSULTATION AND FOURTH REVIEW OF THE EXTENDED CREDIT FACILITY ARRANGEMENT, REQUESTS FOR WAIVER OF NONOBSERVANCE OF PERFORMANCE CRITERION, AND REPHASING OF ACCESS—INFORMATIONAL ANNEX
August 8, 2022
Prepared By
The African Department (In consultation with other departments)
Contents
RELATIONS WITH THE FUND
RELATIONS WITH OTHER IFI’S
STATISTICAL ISSUES
Relations with the Fund
(As of May 31, 2022)
| Membership Status: Joined: March 28, 1962. | Article XIV | |
| General Resources Account: | SDR Million | %Quota |
| Quota | 258.40 | 100.00 |
| Fund holdings of currency | 226.08 | 87.49 |
| Reserve Tranche Position | 32.33 | 12.51 |
| SDR Department: | SDR Million | %Allocation |
| Net cumulative allocation | 371.64 | 100.00 |
| Holdings | 346.08 | 93.12 |
| Outstanding Purchases and Loans: | SDR Million | %Quota |
| RCF loans | 55.56 | 21.50 |
| ECF arrangements | 142.11 | 54.99 |
| Latest Financial Arrangements: | ||
| Arrangements: |
| Membership Status: Joined: March 28, 1962. | Article XIV | |
| General Resources Account: | SDR Million | %Quota |
| Quota | 258.40 | 100.00 |
| Fund holdings of currency | 226.08 | 87.49 |
| Reserve Tranche Position | 32.33 | 12.51 |
| SDR Department: | SDR Million | %Allocation |
| Net cumulative allocation | 371.64 | 100.00 |
| Holdings | 346.08 | 93.12 |
| Outstanding Purchases and Loans: | SDR Million | %Quota |
| RCF loans | 55.56 | 21.50 |
| ECF arrangements | 142.11 | 54.99 |
| Latest Financial Arrangements: | ||
| Arrangements: |
Formerly PRGF.
| Type | Date of Arrangement | Expiration Date | Amount Approved (SDR Million) | Amount Drawn (SDR Million) |
| ECF | Dec 11, 2019 | Dec 10, 2023 | 155.00 | 68.00 |
| ECF | Nov. 19, 2012 | Nov. 17, 2017 | 111.66 | 111.66 |
| ECF1 | Mar. 14, 2008 | May 17, 2012 | 247.90 | 247.90 |
Formerly PRGF.
| Type | Date of Arrangement | Expiration Date | Amount Approved (SDR Million) | Amount Drawn (SDR Million) |
| ECF | Dec 11, 2019 | Dec 10, 2023 | 155.00 | 68.00 |
| ECF | Nov. 19, 2012 | Nov. 17, 2017 | 111.66 | 111.66 |
| ECF1 | Mar. 14, 2008 | May 17, 2012 | 247.90 | 247.90 |
Formerly PRGF.
Outright Loans:
| Type | Date of Commitment | Date Drawn | Amount Approved (SDR Million) | Amount Drawn (SDR Million) |
| RCF | Jun 05, 2020 | Jun 09, 2020 | 36.18 | 36.18 |
| RCF | Feb 23, 2015 | Feb 27, 2015 | 32.30 | 32.30 |
| Type | Date of Commitment | Date Drawn | Amount Approved (SDR Million) | Amount Drawn (SDR Million) |
| RCF | Jun 05, 2020 | Jun 09, 2020 | 36.18 | 36.18 |
| RCF | Feb 23, 2015 | Feb 27, 2015 | 32.30 | 32.30 |
Projected Payments to Fund
(SDR Million; based on existing use of resources and present holdings of SDRs):
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
| Principal | 17.17 | 27.32 | 24.36 | 20.38 | 25.93 |
| Charges/Interest | 0.07 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.17 |
| Total | 17.24 | 27.48 | 24.53 | 38 | 26.09 |
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
| Principal | 17.17 | 27.32 | 24.36 | 20.38 | 25.93 |
| Charges/Interest | 0.07 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.17 |
| Total | 17.24 | 27.48 | 24.53 | 38 | 26.09 |
| Implementation of HIPC Initiative: | Enhanced Framework |
| Commitment of HIPC assistance | |
| Decision point date | March 2008 |
| Assistance committed | |
| by all creditors (US$ Million)1 | 2,739.20 |
| Of which: IMF assistance (US$ Million) | 721.10 |
| (SDR equivalent in millions) | 440.90 |
| Completion point date | June 2010 |
| Disbursement of IMF assistance (SDR Million) | |
| Assistance disbursed to the member | 440.90 |
| Interim assistance | 30.14 |
| Completion point balance | 410.76 |
| Additional disbursement of interest income2 | 10.99 |
| Total disbursements | 451.89 |
| Delivery of Debt Relief at the Completion Point: | |
| Debt relief (SDR Million) | 548.53 |
| Financed by: Liberia Administered Account | 116.20 |
| Remaining HIPC resources | 432.33 |
| Debt relief by facility (SDR Million) |
| Implementation of HIPC Initiative: | Enhanced Framework |
| Commitment of HIPC assistance | |
| Decision point date | March 2008 |
| Assistance committed | |
| by all creditors (US$ Million)1 | 2,739.20 |
| Of which: IMF assistance (US$ Million) | 721.10 |
| (SDR equivalent in millions) | 440.90 |
| Completion point date | June 2010 |
| Disbursement of IMF assistance (SDR Million) | |
| Assistance disbursed to the member | 440.90 |
| Interim assistance | 30.14 |
| Completion point balance | 410.76 |
| Additional disbursement of interest income2 | 10.99 |
| Total disbursements | 451.89 |
| Delivery of Debt Relief at the Completion Point: | |
| Debt relief (SDR Million) | 548.53 |
| Financed by: Liberia Administered Account | 116.20 |
| Remaining HIPC resources | 432.33 |
| Debt relief by facility (SDR Million) |
| Eligible Debt | |||
| Delivery Date | GRA | PRGT | Total |
| June 2010 | 342.77 | 205.76 | 548.53 |
| Eligible Debt | |||
| Delivery Date | GRA | PRGT | Total |
| June 2010 | 342.77 | 205.76 | 548.53 |
Implementation of Catastrophe Containment and Relief (CCR):
| Date of Catastrophe | Board Decision Date | Amount Committed (SDR million) | Amount Disbursed (SDR million) |
| N/A | Feb 23, 2015 | 25.84 | 25.84 |
| N/A | Apr 13, 2020 | 11.63 | 11.63 |
| N/A | Oct 2, 2020 | 11.19 | 11.19 |
| N/A | April 1, 2021 | 11.48 | 11.48 |
| N/A | Oct 6, 2021 | 3.10 | 3.10 |
| N/A | December 15, 2021 | 7.94 | 7.94 |
| Date of Catastrophe | Board Decision Date | Amount Committed (SDR million) | Amount Disbursed (SDR million) |
| N/A | Feb 23, 2015 | 25.84 | 25.84 |
| N/A | Apr 13, 2020 | 11.63 | 11.63 |
| N/A | Oct 2, 2020 | 11.19 | 11.19 |
| N/A | April 1, 2021 | 11.48 | 11.48 |
| N/A | Oct 6, 2021 | 3.10 | 3.10 |
| N/A | December 15, 2021 | 7.94 | 7.94 |
Safeguards Assessment
The 2019 safeguards assessment noted a significant deterioration in the governance and control frameworks of the CBL. The lack of a permanent Board for almost two years and changes to the Governor, both Deputy Governors, and senior management impacted the CBL’s governance and accountability. In addition, the financial position of the CBL had deteriorated following the extension of credit to government in excess of legal limits and new risks have emerged in domestic currency operations as highlighted in the recent external investigation reports. Fundamental steps were needed to address these vulnerabilities. To this end, many of the priority recommendations included as structural measures under the new arrangement were largely met.
Exchange Rate Arrangement
The currency of Liberia is the Liberian dollar. The U.S. dollar is also legal tender. The de jure exchange rate regime classification is ‘managed floating’. Since March 2021, the exchange rate has stabilized within a 2 percent band against the U.S. dollar. Accordingly, the de facto exchange rate arrangement was reclassified to “stabilized” from “other managed”, effective March 17, 2021. Liberia maintains an exchange rate system that is free of restrictions and multiple currency practices. The CBL allows the exchange rate to be determined in the foreign exchange market and FX interventions are limited to smoothing excessive exchange rate volatility.
Technical Assistance 2014–22
| Topic | Date |
| Fiscal Affairs Department | |
| Revenue Administration | February–March and April-May 2014, November 2014– April 2015 (Remote), July–August, September-October, and November–December 2015, February, June, October, and December 2016, Long-term residential advisor has been deployed in the LRA since January 2016. February-April, July, November, and December 2017, January 2018, March-April 2018, May 2018, June 2018, July 2018, August-September 2018, October 2018, November 2018, February 2019, March 2019, October 2020, November 2020, June 2021, December 2021, February 2022 (ITAS), March 2022. |
| Public Financial Management Reform | January, February, November 2016, May-June, July-August, September, October, November, December 2017, April 2018, June 2019, September 2020, October – November 2020, March 2021, March – April 2021, May 2022 |
| Natural Resource Revenue | January and March, and December 2016, February, and April 2017, April 2018, February 2019 |
| Fiscal Decentralization | December 2015 |
| Capacity Building and Sector Audit Training, including Computer assisted Audit Techniques in Telecommunications | April 2014, November 2020 |
| Fiscal Framework for a New Model Petroleum Production Sharing Contract and Revenue Modeling | June 2014, August 2018, October 2020 |
| Budget Formulation and Public Sector Investment Plan | June 2015, June 2019 |
| Public Investment Management Assessment | July 2016, July, September 2017, January 2018 |
| Tax Policy | February 2017, May 2019, June-July 2021, October-November 2021 |
| Cash Management | September 2017, April 2018, September 2018, October 2019 |
| Treasury Single Account – CBL | May 2021, November; December 2021; March 2022 |
| Training of officials from SOEs on International Financial Reporting Standards | October 2021 |
| Customs Border Controls / Risk Management | June 2020, August 2020, October 2020, March – April 2021, September 2021, September – December 2021, July – August 2021 |
| Training IFRS Mining | September 2021 |
| Gender Responsive Budgeting | August 2021 |
| Trade Facilitation | August – September 2021 |
| Domestic Revenue Mobilization Strategy | May – June 2020 |
| FARI Sectoral Mining Model | August – September 2020, April 2021 |
| Data cleansing and migration strategy [remote] | May – June 2020 |
| Statistics Department | |
| Balance of Payments | July 2014 and January–February, June–July 2016, January, July 2017, Feb 2018, September 2018, April 2019, February 2020, February 2021, March 2022 |
| Government Financial Statistics | September 2016, October 2017, March 2019, November 2020 |
| National Accounts, Consumer Price Index, and Producer Price Index | May 2014, April–September (Remote), June–July, November 2015, March, July, August, September, December, December 2016, February, July–August, November 2017, December 2017, January 2018, February 2018, April 2018, June 2018, August-September 2018, October-November 2018, January 2019, March-April 2019, July 2019, November 2019, March 2020, August 2020, March 2021, April 2021, May 2021, June-July 2021, October 2021-February 2022, November 2021, March-June 2022, April 2022 |
| Monetary and Financial Statistics | January-February 2019, January 2020 |
| Financial Soundness Indicators | April 2019, January 2020, February 2020, February 2021, July 2021 |
| Monetary and Capital Markets Department | |
| Central Bank Governance | November 2017, May 2020 |
| Banking Supervision | January, April, July 2014. February, April–May, August, November 2016, January 2019, June 2019, September 2019, December 2019, June-July 2020, August 2020, June 2021, January-February 2022, March 2022, April 2022 |
| Monetary Policy | July 2018, October 2018, February-March 2019, April-May 2019, August 2019, June 2021, September 2021, October-November 2021, March 2022 |
| Central Bank Accounting | August 2016, March 2017 |
| Monetary Analysis and Payment System | November 2016, November-December 2017 |
| Basel II/III Training Workshop | November 2016, July 2017 |
| Liquidity Forecasting | May 2014, August 2015, and January–February 2016, June 2020, June-July 2020, March 2021, October-November 2021 |
| Crisis Preparedness and Management Framework | October–November 2015, January 2017, March 2017, August-September 2018 |
| Central Bank Internal Operational Cost Structure and Annual Budget | August 2019 |
| Currency management and control | November 2019, May 2020, April 2021, July-December 2021 (development of the high-level currency changeover implementation plan)., March-April 2022, May 2022 |
| FX reserves management | July – August 2021 |
| Financial Institution Restructuring and Resolution | November 2020 |
| Medium Term Debt Management Strategy | May-June 2022 |
| Finance Department | |
| Safeguards and Fiscal Investment | September 2017, September 2019 |
| Legal Department | |
| AML/CFT framework | November 2017, March 2018, August 2018, February-March 2019, July 2019, December 2019 |
| CBL Act | January 2018, July 2020, July 2021 |
| Tax Law | October 2017 |
| New Financial Institutions Act | 2020-22 |
| Topic | Date |
| Fiscal Affairs Department | |
| Revenue Administration | February–March and April-May 2014, November 2014– April 2015 (Remote), July–August, September-October, and November–December 2015, February, June, October, and December 2016, Long-term residential advisor has been deployed in the LRA since January 2016. February-April, July, November, and December 2017, January 2018, March-April 2018, May 2018, June 2018, July 2018, August-September 2018, October 2018, November 2018, February 2019, March 2019, October 2020, November 2020, June 2021, December 2021, February 2022 (ITAS), March 2022. |
| Public Financial Management Reform | January, February, November 2016, May-June, July-August, September, October, November, December 2017, April 2018, June 2019, September 2020, October – November 2020, March 2021, March – April 2021, May 2022 |
| Natural Resource Revenue | January and March, and December 2016, February, and April 2017, April 2018, February 2019 |
| Fiscal Decentralization | December 2015 |
| Capacity Building and Sector Audit Training, including Computer assisted Audit Techniques in Telecommunications | April 2014, November 2020 |
| Fiscal Framework for a New Model Petroleum Production Sharing Contract and Revenue Modeling | June 2014, August 2018, October 2020 |
| Budget Formulation and Public Sector Investment Plan | June 2015, June 2019 |
| Public Investment Management Assessment | July 2016, July, September 2017, January 2018 |
| Tax Policy | February 2017, May 2019, June-July 2021, October-November 2021 |
| Cash Management | September 2017, April 2018, September 2018, October 2019 |
| Treasury Single Account – CBL | May 2021, November; December 2021; March 2022 |
| Training of officials from SOEs on International Financial Reporting Standards | October 2021 |
| Customs Border Controls / Risk Management | June 2020, August 2020, October 2020, March – April 2021, September 2021, September – December 2021, July – August 2021 |
| Training IFRS Mining | September 2021 |
| Gender Responsive Budgeting | August 2021 |
| Trade Facilitation | August – September 2021 |
| Domestic Revenue Mobilization Strategy | May – June 2020 |
| FARI Sectoral Mining Model | August – September 2020, April 2021 |
| Data cleansing and migration strategy [remote] | May – June 2020 |
| Statistics Department | |
| Balance of Payments | July 2014 and January–February, June–July 2016, January, July 2017, Feb 2018, September 2018, April 2019, February 2020, February 2021, March 2022 |
| Government Financial Statistics | September 2016, October 2017, March 2019, November 2020 |
| National Accounts, Consumer Price Index, and Producer Price Index | May 2014, April–September (Remote), June–July, November 2015, March, July, August, September, December, December 2016, February, July–August, November 2017, December 2017, January 2018, February 2018, April 2018, June 2018, August-September 2018, October-November 2018, January 2019, March-April 2019, July 2019, November 2019, March 2020, August 2020, March 2021, April 2021, May 2021, June-July 2021, October 2021-February 2022, November 2021, March-June 2022, April 2022 |
| Monetary and Financial Statistics | January-February 2019, January 2020 |
| Financial Soundness Indicators | April 2019, January 2020, February 2020, February 2021, July 2021 |
| Monetary and Capital Markets Department | |
| Central Bank Governance | November 2017, May 2020 |
| Banking Supervision | January, April, July 2014. February, April–May, August, November 2016, January 2019, June 2019, September 2019, December 2019, June-July 2020, August 2020, June 2021, January-February 2022, March 2022, April 2022 |
| Monetary Policy | July 2018, October 2018, February-March 2019, April-May 2019, August 2019, June 2021, September 2021, October-November 2021, March 2022 |
| Central Bank Accounting | August 2016, March 2017 |
| Monetary Analysis and Payment System | November 2016, November-December 2017 |
| Basel II/III Training Workshop | November 2016, July 2017 |
| Liquidity Forecasting | May 2014, August 2015, and January–February 2016, June 2020, June-July 2020, March 2021, October-November 2021 |
| Crisis Preparedness and Management Framework | October–November 2015, January 2017, March 2017, August-September 2018 |
| Central Bank Internal Operational Cost Structure and Annual Budget | August 2019 |
| Currency management and control | November 2019, May 2020, April 2021, July-December 2021 (development of the high-level currency changeover implementation plan)., March-April 2022, May 2022 |
| FX reserves management | July – August 2021 |
| Financial Institution Restructuring and Resolution | November 2020 |
| Medium Term Debt Management Strategy | May-June 2022 |
| Finance Department | |
| Safeguards and Fiscal Investment | September 2017, September 2019 |
| Legal Department | |
| AML/CFT framework | November 2017, March 2018, August 2018, February-March 2019, July 2019, December 2019 |
| CBL Act | January 2018, July 2020, July 2021 |
| Tax Law | October 2017 |
| New Financial Institutions Act | 2020-22 |
Relations with Other IFI’s
World Bank Group http://projects.worldbank.org/search?lang=en&searchTerm=&countrycode_exact=LR
African Development Bank https://www.afdb.org/en/countries/west-africa/liberia/
AFRITAC West 2 http://www.afritacwest2.org/home
Statistical Issues
(As of May 31, 2022)
Enhanced Data Dissemination Initiative (EDDI) phase 2 funded by the UK Department for International Development.
| I. Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance | |
| General: Data provision has serious shortcomings that significantly hamper surveillance. Most affected areas are: national accounts, government finance, and balance of payments statistics. | |
National Accounts: Comprehensive national accounts data are not available and Fund staff use their own estimates of GDP for surveillance. The Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) is progressing on the rebasing of the national accounts, with base year 2016. The statistical data from the 2016 National Accounts Annual Survey (NAAS), the 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) and the 2017 Labour Force Survey (LFS) have been analyzed and used to compile GDP estimates according to the production and the expenditure approaches. In addition, administrative data sources for economic activities not covered by the above-mentioned surveys were identified. LISGIS had made progress on acquiring the outstanding data on livestock, electricity, forestry, water supply, public administration, health and education, new balance of payment data, and tax data, for the series 2016-2020. The data were used to produce the estimates of gross value added (GVA) at current and constant prices of the formal economy and components of GDP by the expenditure approach. Currently LISGIS is working to finalize the GDP estimates for the series 2016-2020, including a document on the description of the sources and methods used on the national accounts compilation. The results of the rebased GDP are expected to be published by the end of July-beginning of August 2022. |
|
Price Statistics: Assisted by the EDDI 2 project,1 the LISGIS introduced an updated CPI in February 2019 (January 2019 index) using expenditure weights and an updated market basket based on the 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). Currently, index coverage is restricted to Monrovia, but the LISGIS plans to expand index coverage to include all Liberia as part of the next CPI update following the 2023 HIES. The price of Education and Health services had breaks in the series in July and September 2020 and July 2021, which led to an upward jump in CPI The LISGIS does not currently compile a PPI for Liberia. A mission in April 2022 identified data that can be used to develop preliminary weights and agreed on a workplan to guide LISGIS on the way forward with developing a PPI. . A new census of establishments will be conducted beginning in July 2022, and these data will be used to update the upper-level PPI weights and to provide a current frame for selecting a sample of establishments. The initial target date for disseminating the new PPI is August 2023. Future TA missions are planned to help LISGIS to improve the CPI and to publish the PPI. |
|
| Government Finance Statistics (GFS): While currently compiled GFS largely align with the guidelines of the GFSM 2001/14, gaps remain on the comprehensiveness of transactions in the statement of operations and the institutional coverage of data. Not all external flows, on grants and loans, and associated expenditure are comprehensively captured in the statement of operations. Data coverage remains limited to the budgetary central government. Expenditure transactions are currently recorded on commitment basis, while all other transactions in the statement of operations are mainly recorded on cash basis. No adjustment is made to bridge the timing difference of transactions on commitment and cash basis in the statement of operations. IMF technical assistance will continue to support the authorities to improve data quality, but efforts will be required to improve coordination and data sharing mechanisms between various data producing and data using units. | |
| Monetary and Financial Statistics (MFS): The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has completed the compilation of monetary data for the central bank and other depository corporations based on STA Standardized Report Forms (SRFs). The timeliness of MFS provision to STA is hampered by technical issues at the CBL, particularly for the central bank balance sheet. The implementation of the remaining recommendations of the January 2020 TA mission and regular compilation of monetary data based on the SRFs are critical for surveillance. The CBL reports some data and indicators to the Financial Access Survey (FAS), including the two indicators (commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and ATMs per 100,000 adults) adopted by the UN to monitor Target 8.10 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). | |
| Financial sector surveillance: The CBL submits some supervisory ratios to the country team for surveillance purposes. A TA mission in April 2019 and two TA missions in 2021 established an FSI workbook based on 2019 FSIs Guide that is expected to be used by CBL to compile and report quarterly FSIs for deposit takers to STA starting from September 2022. The CBL needs to follow up with the TA mission before the FSIs can be published without examination and corrections by economists from AFR and STA. | |
| External sector statistics: The quality of the ESS has been improving gradually, although for surveillance purposes more efforts are required. Balance of payments statistics are compiled quarterly since August 2016 on a BPM6 basis and have been submitted to the Fund since 2017. Trade, income, transfers, some of the balance of payments services components, and equity and debt liabilities of non-financial sectors are not accurately covered. The unavailability of quality source data for most transactions remains the main hindrance to the compilation of accurate statistics. Compilers attempted to address the lack of data by resorting to estimation techniques, but the inputs used are insufficient. Shortage of staff and the lack of both reporting enforcement and compliance with reporting standards continue to pose constraints to enhancing the quality of source data. In addition, the CBL has started compiling preliminary annual International Investment Position data. With a view to further improve data quality, new administratively sourced cross-border flows and positions data have been tapped and the CBL has implemented in 2018 an International Transactions Reporting System (ITRS) and a Direct Investment survey. Moving forward, improvements are needed in the collaboration with other data-producing institutions to ensure consistency in the methodological standards used and comprehensiveness of the current account components. Establishing formal institutional collaboration between the Liberia Revenue Authorities (LRA) and the CBL is crucial for developing Direct Investment statistics. The coverage of the ITRS needs to be extended to include all banks as well as the CBL’s cross-border transactions. Recent STA missions have focused on enhancing the data collection framework and practices, with guidance on updates to survey forms and collection methods (from paper to electronic submission format). | |
| II. Data Standards and Quality | |
| Participant in the enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS) since October 2005, but without a National Summary Data Page. Metadata for most data categories were updated in November 2013. | No Data ROSC mission has been conducted. |
Enhanced Data Dissemination Initiative (EDDI) phase 2 funded by the UK Department for International Development.
| I. Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance | |
| General: Data provision has serious shortcomings that significantly hamper surveillance. Most affected areas are: national accounts, government finance, and balance of payments statistics. | |
National Accounts: Comprehensive national accounts data are not available and Fund staff use their own estimates of GDP for surveillance. The Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) is progressing on the rebasing of the national accounts, with base year 2016. The statistical data from the 2016 National Accounts Annual Survey (NAAS), the 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) and the 2017 Labour Force Survey (LFS) have been analyzed and used to compile GDP estimates according to the production and the expenditure approaches. In addition, administrative data sources for economic activities not covered by the above-mentioned surveys were identified. LISGIS had made progress on acquiring the outstanding data on livestock, electricity, forestry, water supply, public administration, health and education, new balance of payment data, and tax data, for the series 2016-2020. The data were used to produce the estimates of gross value added (GVA) at current and constant prices of the formal economy and components of GDP by the expenditure approach. Currently LISGIS is working to finalize the GDP estimates for the series 2016-2020, including a document on the description of the sources and methods used on the national accounts compilation. The results of the rebased GDP are expected to be published by the end of July-beginning of August 2022. |
|
Price Statistics: Assisted by the EDDI 2 project,1 the LISGIS introduced an updated CPI in February 2019 (January 2019 index) using expenditure weights and an updated market basket based on the 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). Currently, index coverage is restricted to Monrovia, but the LISGIS plans to expand index coverage to include all Liberia as part of the next CPI update following the 2023 HIES. The price of Education and Health services had breaks in the series in July and September 2020 and July 2021, which led to an upward jump in CPI The LISGIS does not currently compile a PPI for Liberia. A mission in April 2022 identified data that can be used to develop preliminary weights and agreed on a workplan to guide LISGIS on the way forward with developing a PPI. . A new census of establishments will be conducted beginning in July 2022, and these data will be used to update the upper-level PPI weights and to provide a current frame for selecting a sample of establishments. The initial target date for disseminating the new PPI is August 2023. Future TA missions are planned to help LISGIS to improve the CPI and to publish the PPI. |
|
| Government Finance Statistics (GFS): While currently compiled GFS largely align with the guidelines of the GFSM 2001/14, gaps remain on the comprehensiveness of transactions in the statement of operations and the institutional coverage of data. Not all external flows, on grants and loans, and associated expenditure are comprehensively captured in the statement of operations. Data coverage remains limited to the budgetary central government. Expenditure transactions are currently recorded on commitment basis, while all other transactions in the statement of operations are mainly recorded on cash basis. No adjustment is made to bridge the timing difference of transactions on commitment and cash basis in the statement of operations. IMF technical assistance will continue to support the authorities to improve data quality, but efforts will be required to improve coordination and data sharing mechanisms between various data producing and data using units. | |
| Monetary and Financial Statistics (MFS): The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has completed the compilation of monetary data for the central bank and other depository corporations based on STA Standardized Report Forms (SRFs). The timeliness of MFS provision to STA is hampered by technical issues at the CBL, particularly for the central bank balance sheet. The implementation of the remaining recommendations of the January 2020 TA mission and regular compilation of monetary data based on the SRFs are critical for surveillance. The CBL reports some data and indicators to the Financial Access Survey (FAS), including the two indicators (commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and ATMs per 100,000 adults) adopted by the UN to monitor Target 8.10 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). | |
| Financial sector surveillance: The CBL submits some supervisory ratios to the country team for surveillance purposes. A TA mission in April 2019 and two TA missions in 2021 established an FSI workbook based on 2019 FSIs Guide that is expected to be used by CBL to compile and report quarterly FSIs for deposit takers to STA starting from September 2022. The CBL needs to follow up with the TA mission before the FSIs can be published without examination and corrections by economists from AFR and STA. | |
| External sector statistics: The quality of the ESS has been improving gradually, although for surveillance purposes more efforts are required. Balance of payments statistics are compiled quarterly since August 2016 on a BPM6 basis and have been submitted to the Fund since 2017. Trade, income, transfers, some of the balance of payments services components, and equity and debt liabilities of non-financial sectors are not accurately covered. The unavailability of quality source data for most transactions remains the main hindrance to the compilation of accurate statistics. Compilers attempted to address the lack of data by resorting to estimation techniques, but the inputs used are insufficient. Shortage of staff and the lack of both reporting enforcement and compliance with reporting standards continue to pose constraints to enhancing the quality of source data. In addition, the CBL has started compiling preliminary annual International Investment Position data. With a view to further improve data quality, new administratively sourced cross-border flows and positions data have been tapped and the CBL has implemented in 2018 an International Transactions Reporting System (ITRS) and a Direct Investment survey. Moving forward, improvements are needed in the collaboration with other data-producing institutions to ensure consistency in the methodological standards used and comprehensiveness of the current account components. Establishing formal institutional collaboration between the Liberia Revenue Authorities (LRA) and the CBL is crucial for developing Direct Investment statistics. The coverage of the ITRS needs to be extended to include all banks as well as the CBL’s cross-border transactions. Recent STA missions have focused on enhancing the data collection framework and practices, with guidance on updates to survey forms and collection methods (from paper to electronic submission format). | |
| II. Data Standards and Quality | |
| Participant in the enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS) since October 2005, but without a National Summary Data Page. Metadata for most data categories were updated in November 2013. | No Data ROSC mission has been conducted. |
Enhanced Data Dissemination Initiative (EDDI) phase 2 funded by the UK Department for International Development.
Liberia: Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
Any reserve assets that are pledged or otherwise encumbered should be specified separately. Also, data should comprise short-term liabilities linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means, as well as the notional values of financial derivatives to pay and to receive foreign currency, including those linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means.
Both market-based and officially-determined, including discount rates, money market rates, rates on treasury bills, notes and bonds.
The general government consists of the central government (budgetary funds, extra budgetary funds, and social security funds) and state and local governments.
Including currency and maturity composition.
Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.
IIP data has not been submitted to the STA since Q4 of 2019 mainly due to capacity constraints and lack of access to source data. The last STA TA mission worked with the authority to address these issues, by identifying new source data and working with data providers to provide regular and timely data.
Daily (D); weekly (W); monthly (M); quarterly (Q); annually (A); irregular (I); and not available (NA).
Liberia: Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
| Date of Latest Observation | Date Received | Frequency of Data6 | Frequency of Reporting7 | Frequency of Publication6 | |
| Exchange Rates | 5/2022 | 6/2022 | D | M | M |
| International Reserve Assets and Reserve Liabilities of the Monetary Authorities1 | 6/2022 | 6/2022 | D | M | Q |
| Reserve/Base Money | 3/2022 | 5/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Broad Money | 1/2022 | 3/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Central Bank Balance Sheet | 3/2022 | 5/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Consolidated Balance Sheet of the Banking System | 1/2022 | 3/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Interest Rates2 | 4/2022 | 6/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Consumer Price Index | 4/2022 | 36/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing3–Budgetary Central Government | 6/2022 | 6/2022 | WM | WM | Q |
| Stocks of Central Government and Central Government-Guaranteed Debt4 | 12/2021 | 1/2022 | M | M | Q |
| External Current Account Balance | 12/2021 | 2/2022 | Q | Q | Q |
| Exports and Imports of Goods and Services | 4/2022 | 6/2022 | MQ | MQ | Q |
| GDP/GNP | 2017 | 11/2018 | A | A | I |
| Gross External Debt | 12/2021 | 1/2022 | M | M | Q |
| International Investment Position5 | Q4/20196 | 10/2020 | Q | Q | Q |
Any reserve assets that are pledged or otherwise encumbered should be specified separately. Also, data should comprise short-term liabilities linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means, as well as the notional values of financial derivatives to pay and to receive foreign currency, including those linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means.
Both market-based and officially-determined, including discount rates, money market rates, rates on treasury bills, notes and bonds.
The general government consists of the central government (budgetary funds, extra budgetary funds, and social security funds) and state and local governments.
Including currency and maturity composition.
Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.
IIP data has not been submitted to the STA since Q4 of 2019 mainly due to capacity constraints and lack of access to source data. The last STA TA mission worked with the authority to address these issues, by identifying new source data and working with data providers to provide regular and timely data.
Daily (D); weekly (W); monthly (M); quarterly (Q); annually (A); irregular (I); and not available (NA).
Liberia: Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance
| Date of Latest Observation | Date Received | Frequency of Data6 | Frequency of Reporting7 | Frequency of Publication6 | |
| Exchange Rates | 5/2022 | 6/2022 | D | M | M |
| International Reserve Assets and Reserve Liabilities of the Monetary Authorities1 | 6/2022 | 6/2022 | D | M | Q |
| Reserve/Base Money | 3/2022 | 5/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Broad Money | 1/2022 | 3/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Central Bank Balance Sheet | 3/2022 | 5/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Consolidated Balance Sheet of the Banking System | 1/2022 | 3/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Interest Rates2 | 4/2022 | 6/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Consumer Price Index | 4/2022 | 36/2022 | M | M | Q |
| Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing3–Budgetary Central Government | 6/2022 | 6/2022 | WM | WM | Q |
| Stocks of Central Government and Central Government-Guaranteed Debt4 | 12/2021 | 1/2022 | M | M | Q |
| External Current Account Balance | 12/2021 | 2/2022 | Q | Q | Q |
| Exports and Imports of Goods and Services | 4/2022 | 6/2022 | MQ | MQ | Q |
| GDP/GNP | 2017 | 11/2018 | A | A | I |
| Gross External Debt | 12/2021 | 1/2022 | M | M | Q |
| International Investment Position5 | Q4/20196 | 10/2020 | Q | Q | Q |
Any reserve assets that are pledged or otherwise encumbered should be specified separately. Also, data should comprise short-term liabilities linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means, as well as the notional values of financial derivatives to pay and to receive foreign currency, including those linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means.
Both market-based and officially-determined, including discount rates, money market rates, rates on treasury bills, notes and bonds.
The general government consists of the central government (budgetary funds, extra budgetary funds, and social security funds) and state and local governments.
Including currency and maturity composition.
Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.
IIP data has not been submitted to the STA since Q4 of 2019 mainly due to capacity constraints and lack of access to source data. The last STA TA mission worked with the authority to address these issues, by identifying new source data and working with data providers to provide regular and timely data.
Daily (D); weekly (W); monthly (M); quarterly (Q); annually (A); irregular (I); and not available (NA).
Assistance committed under the original framework is expressed in net present value (NPV) terms at the completion point, and assistance committed under the enhanced framework is expressed in NPV terms at the decision point. Hence these two amounts cannot be added.
Under the enhanced framework, an additional disbursement is made at the completion point corresponding to interest income earned on the amount committed at the decision point but not disbursed during the interim period.