Liberias transitional government has been warned that it must account for public funds in a more transparent manner if the United Nations is to lift sanctions on timber and diamond exports and if donors are to release funds for the countrys reconstruction.
This blunt warning was delivered by a joint team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the US Treasury which is visiting Liberia to look at the way the government is handling its finances, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) said.
UNMIL said in a statement on Monday that the team of visiting experts had expressed “satisfaction over fiscal reforms in certain areas and reservations in others.”
The IMF, the World Bank and the United States wanted “more transparency and accountability” in the management of government finances “without which the current sanctions against the country will not be lifted,” UNMIL said.
The broad-based transitional government, which is guiding Liberia towards presidential elections in 2005, has been widely accused of corruption and inefficiency during its first year in office.
Concerns that the government did not yet exercise effective control over the interior, persuaded the UN Security Council to keep a ban on timber and diamond exports in place when it came up for review last June.
The sanctions were imposed to prevent former President Charles Taylor from using the hard currency from diamond and timber sales to finance arms purchases in violation of a UN embargo.
The transitional government is dominated by the three armed factions that signed a peace agreement in August 2003 to end Liberias 14-year civil war. However, the administration also includes various other representatives of civil society.
UNMIL quoted Arnim Schwidrowski, the deputy head of the IMFs Africa department, as expressing concern over the high level of “unanticipated” spending in Liberias 2004/2005 budget.
– We need to see how the National Transitional Government of Liberia manages its 80 million US dollar budget in a transparent and accountable manner, Schwidrowski said.
International donors, led by the United States, pledged a total of 520 million dollar towards the reconstruction of Liberias shattered economy at a conference in New York in February. However, Jacques Klein, the head of the UN mission in the country said last week that only 354 million dollar had actually been received.
UNMIL quoted Mats Karlson, the World Bank director for Liberia, as saying that Liberia could only ask for additional donor support if the governments budget showed transparency and accountability.
Karlson said the joint team from the IMF, World Bank and US Treasury were trying to put in place a comprehensive budget assistance package for Liberia, but much would depend on the fiscal discipline showed by the government and the progress of reforms.
The World Bank official acknowledged that Liberia urgently needed relief on its 3 billion US dollar external debt, but he stressed that this would only be forthcoming if the government made progress on fiscal reform and financial transparency.
US ambassador William Blaney hammered home the same message.
He said US companies, which once owned Liberias iron mines and rubber plantations, were waiting to invest in Liberia “provided there were conditions of peace, stability and financial responsibility.”
Kilde: FN-bureauet IRINnews
