THE LIBERIA GOVERNMENT REPORT CARD FOR 2014 AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE......I WONDER IF THIS IS NOT A MIRROR IMAGE OF SIERRA LEONE ? INTERESTING READING, INDEED. ... A Year dominated by the deadly Ebola outbreak resulted in a complete collapse of the entire health system brought Liberia to a momentary standstill and economic and social activity to a halt. This, analyst say could lay the basis for many poorly-performing government institutions to make strong cases for the failure by state institutions to achieve their deliverables during the year. Prior to the outbreak, the World Bank in its prediction of growth for the country anticipated that Liberia could have reached 5.9 growth rate creating high hopes that the country was on the right trajectory of continuing the its recovery process, but it all turned the wrong way when Ebola stepped in. In early December the World Bank released a report indicating that the economies of the three countries hit by the Ebola-Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, which had been growing rapidly in recent years, even into the first half of 2014, would sink to negative levels, as they continue to fight to eradicate the deadly EVD. The World Bank Ghana country office in the report indicated that estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2014 in Liberia have been revised sharply downward since pre-crisis estimates to 2.2 percent for Liberia, compared with the 5.9 percent pre-crisis and 2.5 percent in October. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also warned that the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus is one of what it described as several “increasingly potent downside risks” that threaten growth in sub-Saharan Africa. IMF stated that Ebola could have cost Liberia a decline in its growth rate of about 3.25-3.5 stating that Liberia will see decline growth rate to 2.5% in 2014. Finance Minister Amara Konneh in August outlined the damaging effects of Ebola on the economy of the post-war, ebola-hit nation: We are now working with the IMF on a new (economic) growth projection and should have it by the end of August. In his analysis of the impact of Ebola on Liberia, Konneh further said “Comparatively, last fiscal year July shows a strong performance of 10 percent above target in terms of revenue collection for the month while the current fiscal year underperformed by 6 percent compared to target. In previous year the last 7 days in July contributed 11% of the total revenue collected for the month while the current year shows just 8% contribution during the same period. The slow pace in revenue collection has since continued mainly due to the fear of Ebola”. Ebola might have caused so much harm to the economies of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea but even before the virus and besides the numbers pronounced by international organizations including the World Bank, IMF and others, the reality on the ground in the country in terms of providing basic social services, employment and improved standard of living and overall development was still a burning issue. As we zero in on the close of another year, Front Page Africa for the eight year running presents the first in the series of assessments looking at the various Liberian government ministries, agencies and the national legislature in our annual grade sheet of those trying to make it and those simply struggling to make an impact in a nation haunted by an ugly past and still yearning for economic and political sanity.... ( FPA )
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 03:48:10 +0000
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