Central Bank of Liberia: Divulged the Entrance of L $4 Billion Banknotes in order to Soothe Liquidity Burden on the Liberia Thrift

By Abdul Rahman Bangura–

NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS (NADN) Freetown, Sierra Leone- The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) says in a release that, the safe coming of extra four billion Liberian dollar banknotes were secured in the vaults of the Central Bank of Liberia Headquarters on July 7th, this year. All this is a way to relieve tension of the liquidity stress faced by the West African nation in recent times. The CBL, in alliance with Kroll, shall administer over the coming days to embark on a  full technical verification procedure of the new banknotes, in order to confirm, they admit with the contractual specifications.

Preceding to circulating the additional Liberian dollar banknotes, the banking system had encountered awful liquidity problems, including injured and inadequate banknotes in the banking system to meet depositors’ demand for cash.

On this note, Kroll Associates, Inc. (Kroll) – an accepted provider of peril solutions and predominantly a global investigative firm, was enthralled as part of a United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) technical assistance program to the CBL, as a way to guarantee that, the procurement procedure encircling the printing of the additional Liberian dollar banknotes was open and transparent, an that the shipment of the new banknotes from the printer to the CBL’s vaults was secure. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was also consulted ahead to printing the banknotes, to assure abidance with its Liberia program.

CBL Executive Governor J. Aloysius Tarlue, Jr., noted “The arrival of the additional Liberian dollar banknotes is good news indeed. It will help ordinary Liberians to pay for school fees, hospital bills and other important bills.”

It could be reminded that, Kroll denuded systemic deficits in procurement methods and record keeping at the CBL when examining questions encompassing the apparent printing of LD16 billion new banknotes in September of 2018. it went awry nonetheless, to observe the fugitives and neither was it enabled to access the CBL’s vaults to administer a manual count of money allegedly kept there.

Actually, the Presidential Investigation Team (PIT), according to financial analysts is said to have performed more creditably. Ultimately, the question of the plausible L$16 billion banknotes as almost everyone of those criminally accused have been let off the hook. And now, according to the CBL, Kroll has been hired, based on their experience with the Central Bank, to address loopholes and stave off the reduplication of such knocks.

As a first step in the printing of the additional Liberian dollar banknotes after obtaining legislative approval, the CBL asserts to have utilized enhanced protocols consistent with

international best practice in the procurement process, to secure the most competitive bidder to print the banknotes.

On March 12, 2020, the CBL issued a Request for Proposals, with April 8, 2020, set as a deadline for response to the request. The CBL collected recommendations from probable suppliers in progress of the deadline. Pursuing a strict tryout strategy of the proposals against a comprehensive examination norms, a specially formulated CBL Procurement Committee approved Crane as the best supplier to print the Liberian dollar banknotes.

But to recall it is the very Crane which the GBL had previously criminally indicted for its apparent role in the printing of surplus Liberian dollar banknotes but the penalties were tardily dropped and virtually everyone prosecuted has since been let off the hook including former Deputy Governor – Charles Sirleaf.

For New Africa Daily News Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports,  Africa Correspondent

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