Liberian president wants more cash from flag
Liberia wants more money from and control over its flag, the country’s president has told Fairplay. Harvard-educated president of Liberia Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, in office for 13 months and aiming to straighten out the impoverished country’s economy, praised the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry’s efficiency and competence, but said she did not feel that revenues accrued to the government were sufficient. Answering Fairplay’s questions after a speech at the National Press Club, Africa’s first woman president said LISCR was not being singled out and was one of 95 contractors and concessionaires to have their contracts reviewed in anticipation of renegotiation. She noted that over the past year, Liberia’s budget has been balanced and revenues are up 48%. But she said the country must maximise its share from all contracts if Liberia’s massive $3.7Bn debt is to be reduced. “We are not a poor country,” she said. “Just a country that has been poorly managed.” Johnson-Sirleaf was in Washington on a mission to drum up private investment for the country and to renegotiate foreign debt. To that end, she was successful as the US, UK and German have all already written off $700M in bilateral debt.