In Summary:
- Liberia’s Finance Minister claims that debt service was not more than $10 million before he left office in 2012 when he ended his first stint at the Ministry.
- A review of several government documents and publications from international organizations shows that debt service exceeded $10 million in 2012.
Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, claimed that during his previous tenure as Finance Minister during the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, debt service in the budget was not more than US$10 million.
He made the claim while discussing the current debt challenges facing the government, drawing comparisons between the period he last served as finance minister (2008 to 2012) and his current period as minister.
He made the comment at the 8:14 timestamp of the 2:01:16 video of the first Government Town Hall meeting held at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Monrovia on May 7, 2025.
The Ministry of Information, Culture, Affairs, and Tourism organized the program to communicate government policies through town hall engagements with government officials and citizens.
Minister Ngafuan was appointed Minister of Finance by then-President Sirleaf in 2008. He held the position until 2012, when he was transferred to Foreign Affairs as Minister and Dean of the Cabinet.
Claim
Said Minister Ngafuan on May 7, 2025: “At the time before I left, our debt service was not more than US$10 million or sometimes just around US$5 million.”
Rating Justification
According to the World Bank definition, debt servicing in the budget refers to the amount allocated in the budget for the repayment of outstanding debts, including the principal and the interest charged.
To fact-check the statement by the Minister, we reviewed multiple publications from international development partners and official government releases. We checked information regarding Liberia’s debt waiver and servicing before Mr. Ngafuan departed from the Finance Ministry in 2012.
On June 29, 2010, the IMF and World Bank confirmed that both institutions had approved US$4.6 billion in debt relief for Liberia.
On debt servicing in the budget, page 19 of the Annual Fiscal Outturn for budget year 2010/2011 shows that a US$13.3 million appropriation was approved in the 2010/2011 budget.
However, a commitment of US$12.8 million was made, while the government disbursed US$12.6 million in cash on servicing domestic and foreign debts.
Also, in the 2011/2012 approved budget, which was the last budget administered by Mr. Ngafuan during his first tenure as minister, included US$12 million in debt servicing for that year.
Conclusion
Based on this research and available evidence, Minister Augustine Ngafuan’s claim that before he left as Finance Minister under President Sirleaf, Liberia’s debt service in the budget was not more than US$10 million yearly is incorrect.
Evidence from the 2010/2011 Fiscal Outturn report and the 2011/2012 approved budget shows that debt service was more than US$10 million during these periods.
