The Joint Budget Committees of the House of Representatives and the Liberian Senate have begun hearing of the 2023 draft national budget.
Appearing before the committees on Tuesday at the conference room of the House were the Liberia Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. The National Port Authority, Liberia Petroleum Refining Company, Liberia Maritime Authority took the stand before the Ways, Means and Finance Committee, Public Account and Expenditure of the House of Representatives.
Speaking on behalf of the Director General of the Liberia Revenue Authority, Gabriel Montgomery disclosed that last year the Government of Liberia (GOL) gave the LRA a gross revenue target of US$786.6 million, which eventually grew to US$811.6 million due to the introduction of a US$25 million supplemental budget in April, announcing that the total collection for the year was US$742.5 million.
According to Montgomery, on the domestic front, LRA collected US$605.0 million against a revised target of US$651.6 million. Although Domestic Revenue fell short of its revised target by 7%, actual growth above the previous year, 2021, is US$25.9 million or 4.5%.
He noted that over the years, from 2018 to 2022, domestic revenue has remained on a steady growth path year-on-year, averaging 7.2% per year.
Montgomery further noted that LRA have made significant progress in rolling out electronic fiscal devices and excise stamps, which are crucial in raising revenues and reducing under-declaration and smuggling. He said compliance clustering program has also gained traction, as well as the real estate decentralization pilot project in Margibi.
Montgomery however disclosed that the LRA’s ASYCUDA system can now boast of a lot of success stories. According to him, with the use of the ASYCUDA, customs administration in Liberia is now able to track the movement and supply chain of goods.