Liberia proposes record $1.538 billion 2027 budget
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Front Page Africa
Illustrative image · MART PRODUCTION · Pexels · Licence PexelsLiberia’s government is proposing a $1.538 billion budget for 2027, the largest in the country’s history, with additional allocations for salaries, hospitals and public pensions. The proposal is about 18% higher than the revised 2026 budget, according to Front Page Africa.
Liberia’s government presented lawmakers with a $1.538 billion budget proposal for 2027 on Friday 6 November, the largest in the country’s history, according to Front Page Africa. Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan submitted the proposal and President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s budget message to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Richard Nagbe Koon.
The proposal is about 18% higher than the revised 2026 budget, set at $1.302 billion. It notably provides for higher pay for teachers and police officers, more funding for hospitals, as well as a plan to repay nearly $60 million owed to the state pension fund.
The government is relying in particular on domestic revenue exceeding $1 billion in September for the first time in 179 years. The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) announced on 16 September that revenue was slightly above $1.005 billion, about 63% higher than in 2023. A significant part of this increase, however, came from an exceptional $200 million payment by ArcelorMittal under a revised iron ore agreement; the steelmaker accounted for about $270 million of the revenue collected this year, according to Front Page Africa.
The proposal comes after the announcement on 6 November of a forecast for $1.54 billion in public revenue in 2027, a level close to the total expenditure proposed in the new budget Liberia’s 2027 revenue.
