By Festus Poquie
Former House Speaker Fonati Koffa said he will in the next 48 hours push for a $25 million stimulus package to help Liberia’s most vulnerable households cope with rising costs as economic growth slows.
On Thursday I will present a letter on the floor calling for the creation of a USD 25 million Social Safety Net Fund dedicated to helping our vulnerable people pay school fees and rent,” Koffa said in a Facebook post Tuesday.
The Grand Kru County and opposition Coalition for Democratic Change lawmaker said the government must act when “the town is hard,” pointing to social programs in countries like the United States as precedent.
“Our people are restless and crying for relief. The town is hard, and we must act now!” he said.
In outlining possible financing for the fund, Koffa proposed a range of cost-saving and reallocation measures: cutting officials’ benefits, reducing foreign travel, limiting vehicle purchases, redirecting resources from state run companies like the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company and borrowing from National Social Security Corporation (NASSCORP).
Koffa’s move comes amid a deteriorating near-term economic outlook. An International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board report posted on the Fund’s website earlier this month cut Liberia’s 2025 growth forecast to 4.6% from the 5.6% projected in February — a one percentage-point downgrade that the IMF characterized as roughly an 18% decline in the projected growth rate.
The report noted real GDP growth of 4.0% in 2024, down from 4.6% in 2023, and said inflation accelerated to 10.7% in 2025 from 8.2% the previous year.
Despite “improvements in fiscal management and policy reforms,” the IMF pointed to persistent inflation and other headwinds weighing on the recovery. The Fund’s outlook, however, brightens for 2026, when it projects growth of 5.4%, driven by expected expansion in mining — particularly gold and iron ore — and a recovery in agricultural production.
