• Liberia’s new president said its international reserves were half of what was claimed by his predecessor.
• To curb corruption, he plans to use sweeping audits.
• Liberia defaulted on its debts to international lenders, stalling major infrastructure projects.

Liberia’s President Joseph Nyuma Boakai says he inherited an economy with financial statements that don’t make sense, because there is less money than there should be.

In his State of the Nation Address this week, Boakai, 79, who beat 1995 World Footballer of the Year George Weah in a presidential election run-off last year, spoke of accountability.

He would “ensure that the executive leads by example”, he promised, through cost-cutting measures, such as new fiscal rules and travel ordinances to curb unnecessary expenditure.

The first name to come out of Boakai’s mouth was that of Weah, who last year claimed the Central Bank of Liberia’s (CBL) international reserves stood at R760 million (US$40 million).

To Boakai’s shock, the figure revealed on 19 January was about half of Weah’s claims.

He said:

The report of US$40 million as the Government of Liberia’s consolidated account balance, as of 19 January 2024, is not supported by fact.

“The balance reported by the CBL, as of the same date, was US$20.5 million, highly encumbered, not US$40 million,” he said.

For that, Boakai reassured the nation of his earlier promise to audit everything and everyone in a position of authority.

“To this end, we re-emphasize our earlier commitment to audit and ensure that regular audits will be a culture across all branches of government, not only the executive,” he said.

Boakai also bemoaned that the country’s public debt rose by 601.8% between 2017, a year before Weah came into office, and 2023, when he left.