MONROVIA – The Public Health Initiative of Liberia (PHIL), through its Executive Director Joyce Kilikpo, has called Liberia’s Finance Minister Samuel Tweah and Central Bank Governor J. Aloysius Tarlue to account for Liberia’s share of the initial US$80 million received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) financing in Liberia.

As part of PHIL’s goals in advocacy, the group over the weekend, through its Executive Director, held a day-long advocacy meeting to unveil what Liberia has received from the International IMF through its Special Drawing Rights Fund.

Madame Kilikpo disclosed to FrontPage Africa with the support of the IMF – November 24, 2021: PRESS RELEASE NO. 21/347, which cites that “on August 23, 2021, Liberia received SDR 247.7 million ($345.3 million) under the general SDR allocation to IMF members.

According to Ms. Kilikpo, in April this year, “we have been credibly informed that Liberia has received $80 million of the SDR Recipient Funds on behalf of Liberia, as published by the IMF and signed by the Minister. Samuel Tweah, Jr. and Governor Jorlue Aloysius Tarlue on behalf of Liberia with the aim of strengthening the CBL reserve, supporting economic growth and strengthening the fight against Covid-19 through vaccines.

“We observed that there has been little to no engagement from stakeholders on the appropriate and transparent use of the SDR and that the resulting responsibility has been left to the sole discretion of the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance. Finance and Development Planning, without involvement or dialogue with other key civil society actors,” said PHIL’s Executive Director.

She added that the business community, the media and the legislature are all threatened by the lack of adequate information about the money and fear mismanagement of the use of the money for other purposes that may not be in the interest of the state.

“As CSO actors, we will campaign and pressure the government to make the best use of SDRs in public investments (such as in social protection, health, education and others) to support pandemic response and reduce inequalities for a more equal and equitable world. a sustainable recovery,” added Ms. Kilikpo.

Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were originally introduced in 1969 by the IMF and are worth $650 billion as the IMF’s largest allocation since 1945 (larger than today’s silver Marshall Plan), as means of supplementing the foreign exchange reserves of IMF member countries. , enabling members to reduce their dependence on more expensive domestic or external debt to build up reserves and also to ensure a green and inclusive global recovery from COVID-19 (UNDP 2020).