The government of Liberia is said to be working on several strategies in drive to raise domestic revenue amidst the unpopular stop work order and USAID support to Liberia and other Countries globally.
Working tirelessly behind the scene to help address the shocking and abrupt reduction of official development assistance especially amongst some of Liberia’s key partners, the government through key actors have been brainstorming on ways and means of instituting workable measures to help close the gap which has significantly affected important sectors of the Country.
As part of said efforts, the Liberia Revenue Authority and the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company have both announced that they will resume the collection of the twenty-cent (0.20) surcharge on petroleum products and the additional five cents (0.05) on storage beginning May 1, 2025.
The latest decision came following consultations with sector government agencies and entities to include the Ministries of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Commerce & Industry (MoCi), the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), and the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) Among others.
According to key actors within those sectors , the move is informed by a host of factors.
Prominent amongst them is the sudden reduction in Official Development Assistance (ODA) by some of Liberia’s partners.
The actors reemphasized that the abrupt reductions of ODA has significantly impacted some critical interventions in Health, Education, Agriculture, and other sectors within the Country.
At the same time , they indicated that the action is a part of a package of expenditure streamlining revenue enhancing measures aimed at weathering the current situation and ensuring government’s continued support for essential services.
Ahead of the plan execution next Month, the government through these sector functionaries called on the public to understand and cooperate as they pleged to continue to work collectively with them on this critical matter in order to strengthen the nation’s economic development agenda.
