Africa-Press – Liberia. MONROVIA — A Budget Consultant at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, S. Emmanuel Lloyd Sr, has defended the integrity of budgetary transfers contained in the FY26 National Budget, while pushing back against comments made by Senator Amara Konneh, which he says misrepresent lawful fiscal practices and risk misleading the public on how government finances are managed.
Lloyd’s response follows a wave of public discussion sparked by Senator Konneh’s remarks on the House passage of the FY26 budget, a development that has drawn attention due to the senator’s former role as Minister of Finance and Development Planning and his current position as Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts. Lloyd said the comments, coming from someone with such extensive experience in public finance, carry weight and therefore demand factual accuracy and context.
According to Lloyd, the senator’s statements portray routine and legally permissible budgetary transfers as signs of fiscal indiscipline, a characterization he described as both inaccurate and harmful to public confidence in the national budget process.
He said the narrative being advanced fails to distinguish between unlawful spending and adjustments that are explicitly allowed under Liberia’s Public Financial Management Act.
Lloyd explained that while he is generally cautious about responding to political and professional commentaries, especially those released at the close of the workweek, he felt compelled to speak out in this case. He said remaining silent would amount to allowing misinformation to take root, particularly when the claims originate from a senior lawmaker entrusted with public accounts oversight.
He emphasized that budgetary transfers are an established feature of public financial management and are designed to help government respond to unforeseen circumstances, emergencies, and shifting national priorities during the fiscal year. Lloyd noted that these adjustments are only made within approved appropriations and legal thresholds and are not evidence of indiscipline, as has been suggested.
He further warned that national conversations about fiscal policy must be grounded in accuracy, responsibility, and evidence, especially when conducted by senior public officials. Lloyd said alarmist interpretations of budget data weaken informed debate and distract from the real structural challenges confronting Liberia’s economy and public finances.
To provide context, Lloyd pointed to budgetary practices during Senator Konneh’s tenure as finance minister. He recalled that in fiscal year 2012 and 2013, transfers and reallocations from the Public Sector Investment Program reached 192.5 million United States dollars out of a total approved budget of 672.1 million dollars, representing 28.6 percent of the national budget. Lloyd said such a level of reallocation would ordinarily attract intense scrutiny under the law.
He contrasted that period with fiscal year 2013 and 2014, when transfers totaled 74.7 million dollars from a budget of 582.9 million dollars, amounting to 12.8 percent, which he described as significant but still within legal boundaries. Lloyd then turned to fiscal year 2025, which he said has been unfairly portrayed as fiscally unstable, despite transfers standing at 33 million dollars by the end of October and projected to reach about 40 million dollars by the end of December against an approved budget of 880.66 million dollars. He noted that this represents approximately 4.5 percent, well within statutory limits.
Based on these figures, Lloyd argued that FY2025 does not constitute a fiscal emergency and should not be framed as such. He said budget professionals are not able to predict every event that may arise during a fiscal year and that the law allows for discretionary reallocations to meet urgent national needs when circumstances change.
Lloyd challenged Senator Konneh’s criticism of reallocations from the Public Sector Investment Program to support the school feeding program following reductions in USAID support. He noted that similar reallocations were praised under previous administrations, including the redirection of 13 million dollars in European Union funding initially earmarked for maternal health programs to other government priorities.
He also questioned why reallocations made during Senator Konneh’s time as finance minister, including funds associated with the renovation of the Executive Mansion, are not subjected to similar public criticism. Lloyd said fiscal accountability requires consistency and that past and present decisions should be evaluated using the same standards.
Outlining the use of reallocations during fiscal year 2025, Lloyd cited funding for by elections in District Five of Nimba County, the reburial of former presidents and national statesmen, settlement of government arrears owed to LIBTELCO, payment of Liberia’s dues to the African Peer Review Mechanism, acquisition and transportation of military equipment, medical assistance to former youth and student leaders, and expanded medical services for children under five at the John F Kennedy Maternity Center. He stressed that none of these reallocations were used to support operational expenses at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
On the issue of General Claims, Lloyd rejected criticism of that budget category, explaining that it is a transparent mechanism for capturing expenditures that are not attributable to a single spending entity. He cited obligations such as debt repayment, interest payments, ECOWAS trade levies, social benefits, and bank charges, which are national in nature rather than institutional. Lloyd recalled that during fiscal year 2014 and 2015, General Claims totaled 60.4 million dollars and rose to 102.8 million dollars in fiscal year 2015 and 2016, demonstrating that the practice is longstanding.
He further pointed to the FY26 budget preface, which explains that some appropriations previously placed under certain institutions have been reassigned to a new category called General Government Expenditure. According to Lloyd, this restructuring is intended to enhance transparency, accountability, and the clear separation of institutional operational costs from general government obligations, while preserving supervisory responsibilities.
Lloyd called for a more responsible and evidence based national conversation on budgetary transfers. He urged lawmakers and public officials to ground their critiques in law and factual analysis rather than rhetoric. While acknowledging the seriousness of Liberia’s fiscal challenges, he said they can only be addressed through disciplined budget execution, constructive legislative oversight, and honest engagement with the public.
Lloyd maintained that properly regulated and transparently reported budgetary transfers remain legitimate tools of sound financial management. He warned that portraying them as unlawful or sinister without evidence misleads the public and weakens national fiscal discourse, adding that Liberia’s focus should remain on the accountable and effective management of scarce public resources in the national interest.
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