President-elect George Weah is set to take office on January 22 and he will be inheriting several daunting challenges that include fixing a sinking economy. Weah’s 61.5 percent victory in the presidential election comes with huge expectations from the population, especially amongst the youth and satisfying their expectation is a massive task. Expectations that were built up over a decade overshadowed by the lack of opportunities for middle and lower class has now influenced an overwhelming demand for improvement of people’s livelihood. Alas, the soccer legend is taking the steering wheel of one of the world’s poorest country at a time when the economy is crushing. Right after signing the 2017/18 National Budget, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf called a special meeting with members of the Legislature, requesting them to revisit the budget due to government’s inability to raise the US$563.6 million budget. That was an emphatic sign of an out-of-control economic woos but the Sirleaf’s government kept mute although the writings on the wall were becoming clearer. The President and her advisers argued that the decline in global prices of commodity was the source of Liberian liquidity crisis. It prompted the decline in prices of major exports like rubber and iron ore on the world market, which had already been compounded by the impact of the Ebola outbreak in the country. After the Liberia recovered from the Ebola outbreak, budget shortfalls had already exposed the country’s fiscal indiscipline. Experts advised the slicing of recurrent expenditure and move to an agro-based economy, but all were falling on deaf ears. Over the past few years, the country has witnessed continuous depreciation of the Liberian dollar against the U.S. dollar, which is now trading at a street value of LD$130.00 to US$1.
