Liberia secures IMF disbursements under ECF and climate facility

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Liberia secures IMF disbursements

Highlights

IMF Executive Board completed Liberia’s ECF and RSF reviews, unlocking SDR 36.92 million ($50.16 million) in immediate disbursements to support reforms.
Liberia’s real GDP growth reaches 5.1 percent for 2025 and is projected at 5.5 percent in 2026, driven by mining, construction, and manufacturing.
Key risks for Liberia include higher fuel prices, donor support decline, and climate shocks, while policy focus remains on domestic revenue mobilization, bank reforms, and governance improvements.

Board reviews unlock funding and extend reform backing

As reported by International Monetary Fund, its Executive Board has completed the fourth review of Liberia’s 40-month Extended Credit Facility arrangement and the first review of the 21-month Resilience and Sustainability Facility arrangement, enabling immediate disbursements of SDR 19.3 million under the ECF and SDR 17.62 million under the RSF. The combined payout amounts to about U.S.$50.16 million.

The IMF says the two arrangements continue to support Liberia’s efforts to preserve macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, strengthen financial-sector resilience, advance governance reforms and build resilience to climate-related shocks. The ECF was approved on September 25, 2024, with access of SDR 155 million, while the RSF was approved on April 27, 2026, with total access of SDR 193.8 million.

Total disbursements under the ECF have now reached SDR 96.5 million, or about U.S.$131.67 million. In remarks after the board discussion, Acting Chair and Deputy Managing Director Bo Li says Liberia has continued to implement sound policies and make significant progress under both arrangements despite elevated global risks, particularly volatile oil prices.

Growth outlook improves as fiscal and banking reforms remain in focus

Liberia’s economy remains resilient despite a more challenging external environment. Real GDP growth reaches 5.1 percent in 2025 and is projected to accelerate to 5.5 percent in 2026, supported by strong mining output as well as construction and manufacturing activity, while inflation remains contained.

Risks nevertheless persist, including higher fuel prices, declining donor support, commodity-price volatility and climate-related shocks. The IMF says policy priorities include mobilizing domestic revenue through a planned VAT rollout in 2027, managing a one-off mining concession payment prudently and transparently, completing bank restructuring, addressing remaining financial-sector vulnerabilities, strengthening governance and fiscal transparency, and advancing climate-resilience reforms.

Bo Li says fiscal consolidation continues on the back of strong revenue performance, helping reduce debt vulnerabilities, while capital spending accelerates. He adds that bank recapitalization is progressing more slowly than planned, that reducing non-performing loans would support private-sector credit growth, and that issuing new banknotes is an immediate priority to ease current shortages.

The IMF also says publishing Liberia’s governance diagnostic report and implementing a focused action plan would signal a firm commitment to tackling institutional weaknesses and corruption. It adds that continued technical assistance and coordination with development partners will be critical to keep climate-related reforms on schedule and strengthen the country’s economic resilience.

In our earlier article on U.S. Treasury priorities for the IMF and World Bank meetings, we outlined Washington’s push for the institutions to sharpen their focus on core mandates such as growth, macroeconomic stability, debt sustainability and poverty reduction. We also noted calls for tighter budget discipline and lending reforms at both institutions, alongside an emphasis on energy access and private sector-led development in poorer countries.

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