spot_imgspot_img
Wednesday, December 11, 2024

FORMER FINANCE MINISTER REVEALS HOW WEAH GOV’T HARMONIZATION POLICY HURT LIBERIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH

Date:

MONROVIA – Former Minister of Finance and Gbarpolu County’s newly elected Senator, Amara Mohammed Konneh, has accused the George Weah-led government of indulging in bad macroeconomic management, revealing how the administration’s infamous Harmonization Policy hurt Liberia’s economic growth.

Konneh, who last served the Liberian government as Minister of Finance under the regime of ex-President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, recalled that prior to the onslaught unleashed on Liberia by the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, coupled with the drawdown of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), and the adverse impact of the fall in commodity price shocks, all of which he said weakened growth in the economy, the country’s economy grew reaching a peak of 8.7 percent in 2013.

He added that the 8.7 percent growth rate of the country’s economy in 2013 was averaged by 3.0 percent from 2012 to 2017.

However, Konneh doing a comparative analysis between the Sirleaf and Weah administrations regarding growth in the country’s economy, disclosed that under the CDC-led government, the average growth in the last 6 years is 1.7 percent, with the highest level of growth recorded from 2018-23 under the current administration being 5.0 percent in 2021, a mark the ex-Minister of Finance says is well below the peak of 8.7 percent attained in 2013, during the UP-led government’s reign.

Notably, the former Finance Minister admitted that before the COVID outbreak, under Weah, Liberia’s economy grew at 1.2 percent in 2018, but he pointed out that it then contracted by 2.5 percent in peace time in 2019, a contraction Konneh attributes to the poor macroeconomic management and or policy choices made by the Weah administration.

He specifically pointed out the introduction by the retired footballer’s administration of what he termed the flawed Pay Harmonization Policy in the public sector; its adverse impact on civil servants, the financial sector, and domestic investments, as an integral part of the Weah-led government’s poor macroeconomic management and or policy choices.

Konneh divulged that the Weah administration’s Harmonization Policy created a breakdown in the circular flow, thereby harming every sector of the Liberian economy and society, indicating that all that said policy does is weakens the purchasing power of about 75,000 civil servants with an average household of four people, suppresses private consumption, increases default rates in the financial systems, and stifles domestic investments.

“With the Harmonization Policy, civil servants’ purchasing power diminished, the default rate on loans shot up as non-performing loans ratios rose to 17.2 percent in 2019, up from 14.7 percent in 2017; and credit to private sector (i.e., loans for domestic investment) dropped by 6.3 percent year-on-year in 2019, well below 2017 levels,” Konneh emphasized.

Konneh, who is campaigning against Mr. Weah’s re-election, as Liberians go to the polls on 14 November for a second round of voting in the country’s presidential runoff election, chided the Weah regime for introducing the Harmonization Policy, which he said was necessitated to accommodate partisans of the ex-soccer star’s political party, the CDC, after the administration bloated government’s payroll in 2018.

“The CDC Administration increased the public sector wage bill from US$297 million in 2017 to US$322 million within 12 months. Hence, the harmonization of salaries was introduced to slice from “Peter and give to Paul” and NOT necessarily to ensure equal pay,” said Konneh, who said his reliance for such assertion is the recent payroll audit report conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC).

The GAC reported that 32,759 employees (about 48.7 percent of civil servants across 90 entities) were earning below the harmonized pay grade, according to Konneh, who emphasized that “this is bad macroeconomic management that demands change,” for which he wants Liberians to on 14 November, oust Weah from power and vote in UP standard bearer and vice standard bearer, Messrs. Joseph N. Boakai and Jeremiah Kpan Koung for President and Vice President respectively.

Olando Testimony Zeongar
A cleric and a career journalist, with a wealth of experience in the journalism craft that spans over two decades. He’s also a poet and an editor.

LATEST DEVELOPMENT

CLASHES AT CAPITOL HILL HIGHLIGHT POWER STRUGGLES AND THREATS TO LIBERIA’S DEMOCRACY

CAPITOL HILL, MONROVIA – Tensions boiled over at the...

‘WHERE IS OUR PRESIDENT?’ SENATOR KONNEH CALLS FOR STRONGER LEADERSHIP FROM BOAKAI

LIBERIA – Gbarpolu County Senator Amara Mohammed Konneh, who...

DR. NYAN ISSUES URGENT HEALTH WARNING AS NPHIL ENHANCES SURVEILLANCE AGAINST VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC FEVER

MONROVIA, LIBERIA – Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, the Director-General...

BOAKAI SIDESTEPS SPEAKER KOFFA: LOGICALITY OR PRECEDENT-SETTING BREACH?

President Joseph Boakai's decision to submit the 2025 draft...

A MILESTONE FOR LIBERIA’S HIGHER EDUCATION, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN

The launch of Liberia’s first doctoral programs at the...

BOAKAI’S MISPLACED AMBITIONS AS LIBERIA BLEEDS AND THE PRESIDENT COURTS GLOBAL VANITY

Eight months into his presidency, Joseph Boakai’s administration is...

COMMENTARY

THE LASTING LEGACY OF PRINCE JOHNSON’S DEATH AND THE PATH FORWARD FOR LIBERIA

By Lyndon J. Ponnie, Sr. The passing of former Liberian...

PRES. BOAKAI’S LACK OF LEADERSHIP AND LIBERIA’S POLITICAL CRISIS

-A Commentary Joseph Boakai's failure to lead has once again...

THE MASS DISMISSAL OF LIBERIAN PUBLIC SERVANTS: A TROUBLING TREND UNDER THE BOAKAI ADMINISTRATION

A Commentary by Wondah L. Jah Since assuming the presidency,...

SECURITY RISKS: IS PRESIDENT BOAKAI UNKNOWINGLY SETTING THE STAGE FOR EARLY COUP D’ÉTAT?

In his commentary, Liberian political analyst Vandalerk R. Patricks...

LATEST NEWS

HOUSE INITIATES INVESTIGATION INTO REP. KOLUBAH’S INSULTING OUTBURST DIRECTED AT PRESIDENT BOAKAI

MONROVIA, LIBERIA – Following Montserrado County District 10 Rep....

PRESIDENT JOSEPH NYUMA BOAKAI IN NEAR COLLAPSE WHILE IN INAUGURAL SPEECH

Liberia made History today again by inducting the 26th...

WE CATEGORICALLY CONDEMN REGIME-SANCTIONED ATTACK ON PEACEFUL RELIGIOUS ASSEMBLY!

A Patriot’s Diary With Ekena Nyankun-Juahgbe-Droh Wesley MONROVIA - We are...

LCC LAUNCHES $15 MILLION OFF-BUDGET SPENDING PROBE, VOWS NO STONE WILL BE LEFT UNTURNED

MONROVIA – The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) has launched...

Share post:

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

OPINION

LIBERIANS ARE IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UP AND CDC

  An Opinion By Grace RK Guar Every six...

AMERICA’S NEGLECT OF LIBERIA: A CALL FOR CHANGE

An Opinion By Bishop Dr. Rudolph Q. Kwanue, Sr A...

AMID AN UNENDING WAR AGAINST POVERTY, INJUSTICES – HAS THE PROGRESSIVE STRUGGLE BECOME LOST IN TRANSLATION?

A Patriot's Diary With Ekena Wesley What manner of Liberian progressives...

HAS PRESIDENT BOAKAI’S GOVERNMENT BEGUN BEARING GOOD FRUITS? (PART1)

By Jacob N.B. Parley Following a careful reflection, I have...

ELEVATING THE AG BIBLE COLLEGE TO A UNIVERSITY: A MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENT

By Jacob N.B. Parley After many years of successful preaching...

THE GALLERY

spot_imgspot_img

MORE ARTICLES

spot_imgspot_img

MORE NEWS

LATEST DEVELOPMENT NEWS

LATEST CRIME NEWS

Share via
Copy link