Liberia: Mfdp Minister Ngafuan Craves Fiscal Discipline, Efficiency As Government Launches Fy2027 Draft National Budget

What the report says

FrontPageAfrica, distributed by AllAfrica, reported that Liberia’s Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan has urged ministries, agencies and other spending entities to prepare the FY2027 draft national budget around the government’s ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development. He spoke on Thursday, July 23, at the formal budget launch at the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo, outside Monrovia, under a theme focused on fiscal discipline and strategic allocation.

Ngafuan said budget submissions should begin with programs and interventions already agreed under the national development framework before agencies seek funding for new initiatives. He stressed that public money should be allocated to priority areas and spent in ways that improve services, with stronger planning, procurement and execution across government institutions. He also warned that weak planning can lead to midyear requests for extra funds after a budget has already been approved.

According to the report, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is gathering independent data from counties and other regions to test whether agencies are reflecting key sector needs in their proposals. Ngafuan said the process is intended to improve the credibility of budget preparation and reduce problems during implementation.

The minister also pointed to recent fiscal management gains, including legislative passage of budgets before the fiscal year in 2024 and 2025. He cited domestic revenue of nearly US$700 million in 2024 and more than US$840 million in 2025, which he said supported a US$1.2 billion 2026 budget proposal. The budget process matters because the ARREST Agenda is the Boakai administration’s main development roadmap, including its stated goal of moving Liberia toward lower-middle-income status by 2029.