IMF THINKING ON LIBERIA'S HIPC COMPLETION POINT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MONROVIA 000804 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV ECOM LI SUBJECT: IMF THINKING ON LIBERIA'S HIPC COMPLETION POINT REF A) MONROVIA 673; B) MONROVIA 628; C) MONROVIA 524 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Resisting political pressures to hasten Completion Point under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative before the end of 2009, an International Monetary Fund team led by Africa Director Antoinette Sayeh, Liberia's former Finance Minister, estimated that Liberia may achieve irrevocable debt forgiveness in May or June 2010. During a mission to review Liberia's progress under its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, the IMF team observed significant reforms since their last visit in February, and offered an optimistic assessment of the country's resilience in light of food and fuel crises and a global recession that has delayed revenue from concessions. The IMF discerned increasingly sophisticated monetary and fiscal policy, which should ready Liberia for a greater degree of independent economic management. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Antoinette Sayeh, director for Africa, and Chris Lane, head of the mission to Liberia, led an IMF team that conducted Liberia's third review under its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) during a visit to Monrovia October 19-28. Poloff and Econoff met with Lane and Yuri Sobolev, the IMF's Resident Representative in Liberia, October 23. The Ambassador also met with Sayeh, Lane and Sobolev October 27 to discuss Liberia's current macroeconomic situation and determine current IMF thinking on timing for Liberia's HIPC Completion Point. ¶3. (SBU) Despite the tremendous exogenous shocks to Liberia's economy, the IMF remains optimistic about the likelihood of an economic rebound in 2010. On the macroeconomic level, little has changed since the IMF's second review in February; the extractive industries continue to disappoint, and growth estimates remain at 4.6 percent for 2009. However, the IMF expects commodity prices will rebound, revenues from rubber will rise, and iron ore and timber extraction will resume, buoying growth to seven percent in ¶2010. While Lane conceded that the IMF had not anticipated the extent of the Liberian dollar's depreciation this year (ref A),his team's consultations with the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) reassured the Fund that an increasingly activist monetary policy should steady the exchange rate. HIPC Completion Point -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Sayeh told the Ambassador the IMF tentatively believes 
Liberia could meet its outstanding triggers for HIPC Completion Point by May or June 2010, to coincide with the IMF's release of its fourth biannual review under the PRGF. President Sirleaf and Finance Minister Ngafuan have long pressed for Completion Point by year's end, arguing that the HIPC mandate to maintain a cash-based budget constrains spending on critical social services. While Lane acknowledged that six months ago the IMF might have acceded to the President's request, the delayed passage of key legislation, worrying revenue shortfalls, and the as-yet incomplete audit of expensive government payrolls vindicated those fiscal hawks who argued that the IMF must insist upon a track record of prudent public financial management before Liberia should be granted the right to contract debt. ¶5. (SBU) Completion Point this year is no longer possible, because three key trigger points will slip to 2010: passage of the Investment Incentives Act, the audit of the education payroll, and the 12-month implementation of the Public Financial Management Act. The IMF was disappointed when the National Legislature unexpectedly failed to pass the Investment Incentives Act before it recessed in September, but the Liberian business community is confident the law will pass quickly when legislative sessions resume in January, given that both houses already held lengthy hearings to debate its merits. The IMF will continue to monitor the audit of the Ministry of Education payroll. Given that teachers' comprise one third of all government workers, the fact that ghost workers continue to collect salaries and harmonized pay scales do not yet exist imposes an unnecessary fiscal burden on the GOL. Lane was heartened to learn that USAID will hire 300 auditors to comb education payrolls, and expects to complete its appraisal by March 2010. ¶6. (SBU) The only pending trigger with some room for interpretation is the implementation period for the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act. The PFM Act passed in August, after languishing in the legislature for nearly a year (ref B),so a literal application of the 12-month implementation requirement would push Completion Point until December 2010, when the IMF releases its fifth review under the PRGF. While there is precedent for softening implementation requirements, Lane cautioned that the IMF has learned that it must minimally ensure that Liberia fulfills the trigger point in spirit. During its second review, the IMF liberally interpreted the requirement that the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) be MONROVIA 00000804 002 OF 003 "fully operational" for one year before Completion Point. Sayeh acknowledged that while the LACC may have fulfilled that nominal pre-requisite, the IMF's concession lifted pressure on the GOL to create a robust institution with a track record of corruption-busting. On the PFM Act, the IMF might be willing to abbreviate the 12-month implementation period, given that the Act itself is a solid piece of legislation that meets the IMF's high standards, and given that the Ministry of Finance readied strong implementing regulations while awaiting passage. However, Lane said the IMF will insist upon "continued strong performance" under the PFM Act and will ask the GOL to submit at least two quarterly implementation reports. Monetary and Fiscal Policy After HIPC -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Sayeh and Lane both observed promising indications that a post-HIPC Liberia will guard against political and social pressures to spend profligately, embarking upon a prudent fiscal policy that uses debt only to smooth government expenditures, and an assertive monetary policy that staves off further depreciation until greater exports steady demand for the Liberian dollar. ¶8. (SBU) The delayed resumption of timber and iron ore exports, along with sagging customs revenues and lackluster income tax receipts, have constrained already-modest government expenditures. Yet Lane said that while the fiscal situation is undoubtedly worrying, it has afforded the MOF an opportunity to test its mettle. The IMF estimates that Liberia's true resource envelope for Fiscal 2009-2010 is USD 305 million (compared to the ratified budget of USD 372 million). The budget office independently arrived at a similar conclusion as early as June (ref C),signaling that the MOF's capacity for revenue projection has become quite sophisticated. Since then, Lane noted that the MOF has implemented its risk management strategy effectively, communicating with line ministries and negotiating budget cuts. Lane said he was impressed that every ministry he met with seemed to understand how the revenue shortfall would affect their respective allotments. That augurs well for a post-HIPC fiscal environment, when Liberia must ensure kneejerk borrowing is not the inevitable response to every budget crisis. ¶9. (SBU) The IMF is also working with the GOL to design a cautious borrowing strategy. The Central Bank of Liberia is drafting the outlines of a nascent Treasury-bill market for Liberian dollar-denominated bonds with 90-day durations. Given that commercial banks complain their vaults are full of Liberian dollars collecting no interest, the IMF believes the CBL will find a ready market for its notes. A small-scale bond market will absorb some of this excess supply of local currency, which in turn could buoy the Liberian dollar. ¶10. (SBU) The IMF also praised the CBL for an increasingly resourceful use of it limited toolkit of monetary instruments. In October, the CBL raised the longstanding ceiling on foreign exchange sales at its weekly auction from USD 500,000 to USD 1.5 million, thereby reversing six months of steady depreciation. Lane also saluted the CBL's "sensible" decision not to draw upon an IMF allocation of Special Drawing Rights equivalent to USD 160 million. Lane noted that where many countries have been tempted by this low-interest credit line, the CBL exhibited laudable restraint. Pleasant Surprises and Unmet Challenges -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Since its February assessment, the IMF team was pleased to discover reforms that exceeded expectations. Sayeh was encouraged to see that Liberia is now only the second country to achieve compliance under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Lane also noted that the CBL created units to monitor insurance companies and micro-finance, shoring up some gaps in supervision, and doing so independently, without help or support from any international partners or advisors. ¶12. (SBU) On the negative side, the IMF team said their meetings at the Ministry of Justice alerted them up to the monumental challenges that face rule of law in Liberia. Lane said the IMF had been focusing on commercial law reform, after discussing with Minister Christiana Tah the monumental tasks she has faced since taking over in July, he recognized more fundamental problems, relating to basic training of law professionals, prison management and judicial independence. He welcomed information about USG rule of law programs. ¶13. (SBU) COMMENT: The IMF's current thinking appears to be that while a cash-based budget imposes painful short-term constraints, premature Completion Point would curtail the institution-building that will be essential to sound fiscal management in years to come. MONROVIA 00000804 003 OF 003 We welcome the IMF's sanguine assessment of Liberia's readiness for a post-HIPC environment, but we recognize that the government sees Completion Point as more a political achievement than the basis to form a new fiscal policy. We regard HIPC-mandated reforms as the modest foundation on which will rest ever-improving economic policies that facilitate widespread growth and engender social equity. To that end, we will continue to encourage ongoing improvements in public financial management, external audits of key ministries, and the development of dynamic anti-corruption mechanisms, even after Liberia achieves Completion Point. THOMAS-GREENFIELD