Liberia: Amid Budget Submission Controversy, Finance Minister Ngafuan Projects 5.8% Economic Growth as Budget Increases by 15.3%

Monrovia – The controversial submission of the fiscal year 2025 draft national budget to the Legislature continues to spark widespread debate among the public, but that is not the only issue the public is talking about.

By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, gerald.koinyeneh@frontpageafricaonline.com/Webster Clayeh, webster.clayeh@frontpageafricaonline.com

The Government of Liberia’s recent announcement to ensure no public sector employee earns below the US$150 monthly minimum salary as stipulated in the Decent Work Act of 2015 has drawn mixed reactions. While heralded as a step toward addressing public sector remuneration challenges, the initiative has reignited debates over wage reforms, policy continuity, and credit attribution between successive administrations.

The total revenue envelope of the Draft National Budget for FY2025 is projected at US$851,8 million, comprising Core Revenue of US$833 million or 97.8% and Contingent Revenue of 18.8 Million or 2.2%. Of this amount, Domestic Revenue constitutes US$791.76 million or 93 percent of the total envelope.

At the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing on Tuesday, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, the newly appointed Minister of Finance and Development Planning said the Liberian economy is projected to grow by 5.8 percent in 2025, up from a forecast of 5.1 percent in 2024.

He said the 2025 projections are based on strong performances in the mining and panning sector (8.5 percent), the manufacturing sector (6.9 percent), the agriculture & fisheries sector (5.2 percent) and the services sector (5.0 percent).

According to the Minister, the top two contributors to GDP in 2025 will be the services sector with 38 percent and the agriculture and fisheries sector with 29 percent. The rest, he said, will be mining and panning at 19.2 percent, forestry at about 8 percent, and manufacturing at six percent,” He stressed.

What’s there for civil servants

The minister announced that starting next year, no central government employee will earn less than the US$150 minimum monthly salary threshold mandated by the Decent Work Act of 2015, stating that President Boakai has authorized the allocation of over $16 million to fund the first phase of a multi-year initiative aimed at addressing longstanding remuneration challenges in the public sector.

“Nurses, midwives, and physician assistants will receive US$50 monthly salary increases, while other health workers will see increases ranging from US$25 to US$40, based on their roles,” he said. “Additional workers in the agriculture and security sectors, including AFL soldiers, police officers, and agriculture extension workers, will also benefit from salary increases of between US$30 and US$40 per month.”

Key Measures to Boost Salaries and Benefits

Ngafuan disclosed that approximately 28,200 government employees—representing 45% of the workforce—will receive salary increases.

Healthcare Workers including Nurses, midwives, and physician assistants will see a monthly salary increase of $50, while other health workers will receive increments ranging from $25 to $40, depending on their roles.

Agriculture and Security Workers including AFL soldiers, police officers, and agriculture extension workers will benefit from salary raises of $30 to $40 per month.

Addressing Volunteer Worker Challenges

Minister Ngafuan revealed that $2.6 million has been allocated in the FY 2025 budget to begin incorporating volunteer workers from the Ministries of Health and Education into the government payroll.

“This funding will initiate a multi-year process to regularize volunteer workers following a rigorous vetting exercise,” he said.

Adjustments for Educators

Nearly 2,000 teachers holding C-Certificates, B-Certificates, and advanced qualifications will benefit from salary adjustments to align their earnings with their professional levels.

“A $3 million allocation in the draft budget will ensure these educators are paid according to their qualifications,” Minister Ngafuan noted.

Support for Specialist Doctors

The draft FY 2025 budget also allocates nearly $3 million to increase the salaries of specialist doctors by at least $225 per month, starting January 2025.

“This measure is part of the government’s broader strategy to address pay disparities in the health sector,” Ngafuan said.

Minister Ngafuan announced the implementation of the National Security Act of 2015, which will provide full insurance coverage to over 5,000 active-duty members of the Liberia National Police beginning January 2025.

However, critics argue that this announcement lacks novelty. Writing on his Facebook wall, Samuel Tweah, former Minister of Finance said the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) administration implemented a similar policy in 2022, which raised the salaries of over 15,000 employees earning below the US$150 threshold, costing approximately US$6 million annually. Tweah noted that only a few workers—due to suspension or other anomalies—currently earn below this threshold, thus minimizing the practical impact of the new announcement. 

The Legacy of Harmonization 

Tweah stated that the CDC government’s “harmonization” policy, implemented to address inconsistencies in the public sector wage structure, remains a contentious topic. Under harmonization, the dual system of basic salary (often denominated in Liberian dollars) and general allowance (paid in U.S. dollars) was consolidated into a single taxable pay structure. This reform, he added, aimed to eliminate the discretionary practices of the Unity Party era, which allowed for significant salary disparities across ministries and agencies.

“CDC placed US$ 5 million in the original 2024 budget to increase the salary of health workers to implement a new pay grade developed with health workers in 2023. This money was taken out by the UP government, so news about finding money to implement this is no news!” Tweah stated.

“More importantly, when we say ‘harmonization can never be reversed’ we don’t mean you cannot carry salary up. The CDC Gov over the last six years took the salary of judges, teachers, UL professors and several other categories of workers to higher levels based on revenue performance.”

He said Government salaries would have to keep going up to catch up with rises in the cost of living overtime, especially since the whole body of Liberian salary has been low for the majority of workers since 2005!”

So ‘you can never reverse harmonization’ means you cannot go back to the broken-up era “basic salary and general allowance system”.

In this dual system, Tweah noted that some 43,000 Government workers earned basic salary, mainly denominated in Liberian dollars, while more than 25,000 workers were under a General Allowance US dollar system, where UP era ministers followed NO RULES, STANDARDS, or PAY Grade   in hiring people. We referred to this as “you call the salary you want, you get it”

Critics of the Unity Party argue that harmonization created a more transparent and equitable system while raising salaries for 15,000 low-paid workers. However, it also led to reductions for 7,000 employees in high-paying ministries, a move some perceived as a salary cut despite official explanations to the contrary. 

The Boakai administration’s salary adjustments, therefore, are seen by some as an extension of the CDC’s reforms rather than a novel initiative.  

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