IMF Managing Director, Ms. Christine Lagarde Visits Liberia Today

Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will visit Liberia from September 10-11, 2015, to engage with policymakers and other representatives of the Liberian society.

According to a Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) release, the IMF Managing Director’s visit to the country is aimed at seeking greater understanding of Liberia’s post-Ebola recovery following various interventions by the Government of Liberia with support from the IMF and development partners.

Ms. Lagarde at the head of a high power IMF delegation will hold series of discussions with government officials, representatives of women organizations and the private sector, including business and community leaders.

The MFDP release indicated that, the IMF delegation which includes Liberia’s former Finance Minister, Dr. Antoinette Sayeh will meet with Her Excellency, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the leadership of the 53rd National Legislature, members of the Cabinet and Diplomatic Corps, as well as other development partners and civil society organizations in the country.

On Friday, September 11, which marks the end of the two-day visit, the IMF Managing Director, Ms. Lagarde will deliver a speech to a cross section of Liberians at the Monrovia City Hall in Sinkor.

“Liberia has been confronted with an unprecedented public health emergency —the Ebola pandemic. Through coordinated effort and extraordinary engagement, the people of Liberia, under the leadership of Her Excellency, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, took ownership of the fight against the disease. The IMF stood by the side of the Liberian people in their endeavor. My visit will not only help to strengthen our partnership with the country, but it will also enable me to see firsthand how the country has steadily put in place plans to control the Ebola epidemic and to support the post-Ebola recovery,” Ms. Lagarde, IMF Managing Director intoned ahead of visit to Liberia.

Meanwhile, the IMF has provided Liberia up to US$130 Million through various arrangements to brace the nation’s resilience and the well-coordinated leadership provided by the government to fight the Ebola Virus Disease. These funds constitute the large-scale extraordinary international response to Liberia’s Ebola crisis.