Maryland County District One Representative and Committee Chair P. Mike Jury reported that the Liberia Revenue Authority collected $336 million as of May 31, 2025.
Monrovia — Liberia’s national budget recorded a revenue shortfall of $6.8 million in the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year.
By Emmanuel Weedee-Conway
The shortfall is mainly due to non-compliance by several State-Owned Enterprises and Bea Mountain Mining Corporation’s failure to pay mandated road maintenance funds.
The revelation came Tuesday during the 16th sitting of the 55th Legislature’s Second Quarter session, where the House of Representatives received and debated the Quarter One Revenue Performance Report presented by the Committee on Ways, Means, Finance and Development Planning.
Maryland County District One Representative and Committee Chair P. Mike Jury reported that the Liberia Revenue Authority collected $336 million as of May 31, 2025. This fell short of the projected $343 million for the same period.
According to Representative Jury, the revenue gap resulted from several factors including non-remittance by State-Owned Enterprises to the national budget, failure of Bea Mountain Mining Corporation to pay road maintenance funds, delays in tax and non-tax collections by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, low budgetary support to revenue-generating agencies, and withholding of salaries by government entities that were not remitted to the Liberia Revenue Authority.
The Committee expressed serious concern over the deliberate withholding of internally generated funds and statutory remittances, warning that such non-compliance is a criminal offense punishable by law.
The Committee emphasized that all internally generated funds must be deposited into the consolidated fund account. Entities legally entitled to a share of these funds must prepare annual budgets and submit monthly reports for inclusion in quarterly fiscal updates to the Legislature.
The report also highlighted that the Judiciary does not pay income taxes, and all fees collected by the Judiciary are not reported to the Liberia Revenue Authority or the consolidated account. Low collection of real estate taxes was noted as a missed opportunity to increase government revenue.
“These observations underline critical gaps in compliance, transparency, and revenue management that must be addressed to improve fiscal governance and ensure lawful financial practices across all institutions,” the Committee said.
Based on these findings, the Committee recommended that the House leadership seek an audience with President George Weah to bring attention to issues of non-compliance by State-Owned Enterprises and obstruction of the garnishing and viewing rights granted to the Liberia Revenue Authority under the 2025 Budget Law.
The Committee also urged enforcement of these rights and called on the Ministry of Justice to facilitate constructive discussions between the Liberia Revenue Authority and the State-Owned Enterprises, rather than obstructing the process. They further proposed that the Liberia Revenue Authority, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, and defaulting entities meet to find solutions to manage outstanding withholding debts inherited from previous administrations.
During legislative deliberations, Bong County District Six Representative Moima Briggs-Mensah moved to endorse the report and its recommendation for a presidential audience to hold defaulting State-Owned Enterprises accountable. However, this motion was challenged, and Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon granted a motion for reconsideration, delaying further action.
In a related development, the House also passed a $5.14 million loan agreement between Liberia and the African Development Bank. The loan is intended to strengthen domestic revenue mobilization and support institutional reforms under the Institutional Support for Enhanced Domestic Revenue Mobilization and Reform Implementation Project. The agreement was forwarded to the Senate for concurrence before being sent to the President for final approval.
The Committee on Ways, Means, Finance and Development Planning endorsed the project, stating it aligns with the government’s Rescue Agenda and will help drive long-term economic stability.
