The last two years under President George Manneh Weah has witnessed the upsurge of unprecedented public interest in the country’s economic welfare, something that expressed itself prominently in the 2019 political contestations in Montserrado County. The President has taken the challenges posed by the economy commensurately seriously with a couple of radical reform policy actions. The Central Bank is the nerve center of the country’s economy and the President particularly takes keen interest in having it restructured. The man placed at the acme of the Bank’s leadership is taking the job with both hands firmly, touching down running. This week, he has initiated a couple of strategic engagements, including meeting the CBL’s key partners, the commercial banks. As The Analyst reports, the new CBL chief has been holding talks with officials of commercial banks in the country, pushing the message of modernized monetary regime propelled by digitization, integrity and commitment.
The Central Bank has reported that its new chief, Hon. J. Aloysius Tarlue, has been holding brainstorming sessions with a cross section of monetary experts towards cascading his mandate for a vibrant central bank.
One of such engagements took place this week in Monrovia and the Executive Governor is quoted as saying that he would like to see some of the critical problems facing commercial banks eased as to increase public confidence in the banking system.
Acknowledging that the Liberian banking sector is safe and sound, the CBL Executive Governor, meeting with officials of commercial banks, highlighted several operational challenges which remain inimical to the performance of the banking sector.
Prominent among the challenges he noted is the high level of non-performing loans, a factor he described as disturbing.
“We have to work together to ensure that we bring it down and that we reduce the level of non-performance loans. This will help us to give loans to individuals worthy of loans, so that we can try to create jobs in the country,” the Governor added.
On Tuesday, January 28, 2020, Hon. Tarlue met with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of commercial banks operating in Liberia and lauded them for their continued support and understanding during the December festive season.
The banks, he emphasized, were instrumental in collaborating with the Central Bank to ease the liquidity pressure in the economy.
“Without your support, the situation could have gotten out of hand.” Executive Governor Tarlue recalled.
He also pointed to the problem of long queues at banks and called for speedy resolution in order to make banking services more accessible and efficient for customers.
The new CBL Executive Governor also highlighted the need for the persistent promotion of digital banking to ease the demand for cash on the system for the actualization of cashless economy.
The CBL, he said, will continue to support all efforts by the commercial banks geared toward digital banking.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, the president of the Liberia Bankers Association (LBA), Mr. John B. Davies, III, congratulated Executive Governor Tarlue on his ascendency to the post, and commended the CBL for the level of cooperation, support and collaboration, especially during the Christmas festive season to ease the liquidity problem.
Mr. Davies, who is also the President/CEO of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), welcomed the meeting and reassured the Governor and the Bankers Association’s support in tackling the challenges confronting the banking sector.
The Tuesday meeting was the first between Executive Governor Tarlue and commercial banks since his induction a month ago. It was also attended by senior executives of the CBL, including the Acting Deputy Governor for Operations, Madam Nyemadi D. Pearson; the Deputy Governor for Economic Policy, Dr. Musa Dukuly; and directors of departments at the CBL, as well as Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and other senior officials of commercial banks in the country.
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