{"id":6223,"date":"2025-02-21T12:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T12:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1307007.us31.myftpupload.com\/?p=6223"},"modified":"2025-02-21T12:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T12:38:13","slug":"fact-check-president-boakais-5-claims-on-state-of-liberian-economy-in-2023-during-2025-address-to-mps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enspirefx.com\/royale\/fact-check-president-boakais-5-claims-on-state-of-liberian-economy-in-2023-during-2025-address-to-mps\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT-CHECK: President Boakai\u2019s 5 claims on state of Liberian economy in 2023 during 2025 address to MPs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researched by Nusrat Essah\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The President of Liberia, Joseph Nyuma Boakai,\u00a0 during his <\/span>Annual Message 2025<\/span><\/a> before lawmakers on January 27, 2025, made claims about some economic indicators he inherited from the previous George Weah administration (2023).<\/span><\/p>\n

President Boakai made claims regarding inflation, economic growth, international reserves, public debt, and the current account deficit (watch from <\/span>\u00a040 mins: 27 secs to 41 mins :13 secs<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

In this report, FactSpace Liberia fact-checks five claims made by the President.<\/span><\/p>\n

Claim 1<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cInflation surged to double digits at 10.1 percent, driven largely by rising food and fuel prices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fact-Check<\/b><\/p>\n

FactSpace Liberia reviewed data from the Liberia Institute of <\/span>Statistics<\/span><\/a> & Geo-Information Services (LISGIS). According to the Liberia Consumer Price Index (LCPI) newsletter, the inflation rate at the end of December 2023 was 10.1%. (see <\/span>page 1<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Year-on-Year Inflation Rate as measured by the CPI was 10.01 Percent. This rate of Inflation for December 2023 is the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the last twelve months, from December 2022 to December 2023,\u201d the newsletter read.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fig 1: Screenshot of the inflation rate from LCPI newsletter<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Verdict<\/b><\/p>\n

This figure 10.1% aligns with the claim by the president. Therefore the claim is true<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Claim 2<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore our administration, growth had slowed to just 4.6 percent,\u201d President Boakai said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fact-Check<\/b><\/p>\n

FactSpace Liberia reviewed the Central Bank of Liberia\u2019s (CBL) <\/span>Annual Report<\/span><\/a> for 2023. According to the CBL report; \u201cThe Liberian economy moderated slightly to 4.6 percent in 2023\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fig 2: Screenshot of economic growth from 2023 Annual report (page 30)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This figure aligns with the figure mentioned by the President. The economic growth in 2023 per the report was 4.6% as claimed by the President.<\/span><\/p>\n

Verdict<\/b><\/p>\n

Therefore, the claim is rated true<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Claim 3<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cInternational reserves were dangerously low at just 2.1 months of import cover,\u201d President Boakai said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fact-Check<\/b><\/p>\n

According to the Central Bank of Liberia\u2019s 2023 <\/span>Annual report<\/span><\/a>, the Gross International Reserves (GIR) fell to 2.3 months of import cover by the end of 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGross International Reserves (GIR) fell by 24.6 percent and months of import cover fell to 2.3 at end- 2023, mainly reflecting a reduction in foreign liquid assets.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" <\/span><\/p>\n

Fig 3: Screenshot of GIR 2023 Annual report (page 30)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

From the above findings, the months of import cover of the GIR fell at 2.3 and not 2.1 as stated by the President.<\/span><\/p>\n

Verdict<\/b><\/p>\n

Therefore, the claim is understated.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Claim 4<\/b><\/p>\n

President Boakai claimed that by 2023, \u201cour debt burden had ballooned to $2.5 billion, or 54.6 percent of GDP.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fact-Check<\/b><\/p>\n

According to the Central Bank of Liberia\u2019s A<\/span>nnual Repo<\/span><\/a>rt 2023, Liberia\u2019s total debt at the end of 2023 was US$2,209.8 million which was 51.0% of GDP. This figure when converted to billion is $2.2 bn.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Fig 4: Screenshot of public debt from the 2023 Annual report (page 58)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This is inconsistent with the figure stated by the president. Liberia\u2019s public debt was $2.2 bn or 51.0%, not $2.5 bn or 54.6% as claimed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Verdict<\/b><\/p>\n

Therefore, the claim is rated false.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Claim 5<\/b><\/p>\n

The President claimed that at the end of 2023, Liberia\u2019s current account deficit was 26.4% of GDP. <\/span>\u201cThe current account deficit (at the time), had worsened to 26.4 percent of GDP,<\/b>\u201d he told MPs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fact-Check<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe current account deficit widened by 38.9% to 10.5% of GDP compared to the deficit recorded in the preceding year,\u201d the Central Bank of Liberia 2023 A<\/span>nnual Rep<\/span><\/a>ort said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/strong>Fig 5: Screenshot of account deficit on page 11\/page 46<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The figure stated by the President does not align with the actual figures found in the report.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liberia\u2019s current account deficit at the end of 2023 was 10.5% of GDP, not 38.9% as he claimed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Verdict<\/b><\/p>\n

Therefore, the claim is rated false.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researched by Nusrat Essah\u00a0 The President of Liberia, Joseph Nyuma Boakai,\u00a0 during his Annual Message 2025 before lawmakers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,41],"tags":[77],"coauthors":[504],"class_list":["post-6223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liberia","category-featured","tag-liberia"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":33,"label":"Liberia"},{"value":41,"label":"Featured"}],"post_tag":[{"value":77,"label":"Liberia"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/enspirefx.com\/royale\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Joseph-Boakai-1024x609.jpg",1024,609,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Shaban Abdur Rahman Alfa","author_link":"https:\/\/enspirefx.com\/royale\/author\/shaban-abdur-rahman-alfa\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":33,"name":"Liberia","slug":"liberia","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":33,"taxonomy":"category","description":"

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