Liberia for the Second Time Hosts Bi-annual Sub Regional Economic Confab!!!

Monrovia, Liberia - Fiscal and Monetary policy experts in the West African sub region will today in the auditorium of the Central Bank of Liberia, commence a nine-day intensive High-Level Statutory Conference aimed at finding workable solutions to the numerous economic challenges facing their embattled economies.

Liberia’s chief fiscal policy manager and Finance & Development Planning Minister, Honorable Boima S. Kamara, an economist who is leading the Liberia delegation alongside Central Bank Governor, Milton Weeks is expected to contribute immensely in discussions alongside his counterparts in the sub region.
According to a Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) release, the statutory meeting brings together the Committees of Ministers of Finance, Governors of Central Banks and the College of Supervisors of the West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ).
Participants will discuss wide range of topics including a robust review of WAMZ program, specifically focusing on the importance of sharing of experiences in a move to ensuring that sound economic decision are formulated, which they envisaged, will contribute immensely in eliminating shortfalls in their respective economies as well as providing strategies to mitigate such downturns.
Another top priority component expected to be given erudite consideration at the conference is the transition of the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) into the WAMZ Commission.
The release noted that participants at this year’s statutory meetings are expected to make presentations including but not limited to convergence reports, policy issues with highlights on reports of experts committee meeting on the WAMZ commission and vulnerability of WAMZ economies.

The discussants will also look at the impact on the convergence process as well as managing commodity price shocks in WAMZ and the roles of monetary and fiscal policies.

Other key areas for presentation through expert opinions will focus on financial integration that centers on progress report on capital market integration and SWIFT Regional Platform, partnership as well as trade, administrative and legal issues.

The WAMZ Statutory Meetings are bi-lateral events convened by WAMI and hosted by member states of WAMZ on a rotational basis. At the close of these meetings, reports are compiled for review and deliberation by the Committee of Governors for subsequent consideration of the Convergence Council of Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

Background
It can be recalled that on April 20, 2000 in Accra, Ghana, Heads of State of six countries in West Africa, as part of a fast-track approach to integration reached a decision to establish a second monetary zone, to be known as West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ).
The countries represented at the time were The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone when leaders signed the “Accra Declaration” which defined the objective of the Zone, action plan and institutional arrangements for the speedy implementation of their decision.
The leaders envisaged that the Zone will subsequently merge with the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) to form a single monetary zone in West Africa.
The Authority of the Heads of State and Governments of WAMZ, Convergence Council of Ministers and Governors which includes the Ministers of Finance, Trade, Integration, Justice Department and Governors of the Members State Central Banks, Committee of Governors, Technical Committee - Director of Research of Member Central Banks, technical staff of the Ministries of Finance, Trade Integration Parliamentarians, Civil Society, Regional Institutions, Private Sector, staff of WAMZ and other key stakeholders from the West African sub-region as well as representatives of multilateral financial institutions in Liberia are expected to attend the mid-year statutory meetings.

The West African Monitoring Zone (WAMZ) includes member countries of the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA), the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) and the College of Supervisors. The member countries of WAMZ are the Gambia, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia.