Curing The Economic Cancer Of Liberia, The Best Way Forward

Amidst The Severe Hardship being experienced by citizens of Liberia, especially those currently living in the ‘Motherland’ (Liberia), the head of state of Liberia, Amb. Dr. George M. Weah on Monday, July 16, 2018 attempted to address the situation at hand, something that degenerated into more noise and a state of confusion than before his (Weah) address to the nation.

The Liberian Head of State, in his attempt to calm the situation of the uncontrollable US Rate against the Liberian Dollar and sky-rocketing increase in basic commodity prices on the Liberian market told his citizens to hold their peace and be patient as he and his cabinet ministers try to solve the problem the country is faced with since it was the reason the CDC was voted for.

In Addition, He informed the public that he (Weah) will immediately mandate the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) to put into the market US$25M to help stabilize the economy as he believes will help reduce the exchange rate between the Liberian and United States Dollars.

But Critics and Economists have analyzed the ‘Country Giant’s” address to the nation and described it as ‘empty speech’ and not the solution to the existing problem of the country.

There Are Fears that even if a billion United States Dollars is put into the Liberia Economy, Liberia’s unstable and shocking economic crisis will not be resolved since the issues of capital flight, money laundering lack of transparency and trust amongst major decisions makers are on the increase.

We Believe The way forward is the printing of new currency and the use of a single currency.

The Reason Is simple; there have been and continues to be reports of printing or arrest of counterfeit Liberian Dollars bank notes which we believe if more US Dollars are even infused into the economy will not provide any lasting solution as it will be short lived.

It Is Often said that do not blame the place where you felt down, but the place you stormed your toes.

To Solve Any problem, one must identify the existing problem, its root cause (s) and find a way forward.

In This Case, the problem is weak economy marred by more import of basic commodities than exports, the use of two separate Liberian Dollar Bank notes side-by-side the United States Dollar and the circulation of counterfeit Liberian Dollar Bank notes into the economy of the country.

Therefore, If New Bank note can be printed and law be passed by the Legislature for the single use of Liberian Dollar on the market while United States Dollar is controlled by the Central Bank of Liberia, there will be a last solution and Liberians will again breath air of relief.