The_Open_Door_deel1

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Bushrod Island; a new bridge over the St. Paul River and the
paving of the 24 miles long road to Virginia, a section of the
Monrovia - Bomi Hills road; road improvements between Bentol and
Virginia, and street and other improvements of the President's
natal village, Bentol. This town, formerly called Bensonville,
had replaced Monrovia as the capital of Montserrado County in
1973.
Foreign Funds and The External Debt
In an attempt to finance both O.A.U. related projects and
projects more essential to the basic needs of the country at a
time when the Domestic Revenues were growing at a declining rate
the Tolbert Administration engaged in irresponsible borrowing.
From July 1, 1976 till December 31, 1978 over 40 loans amounting
to $ 325-7 million x^ere contracted, the majority of which was
signed for in 1978 (over a quarter of a billion dollars) (84).
About $100 million was contracted at interest rates of over 10
per cent per year (see Annex 26)
When consumed, the Liberian Government will face repayments on
at least $ 202.1 million worth of loans within five years as
most of these loans have a short grace period. Within ten years
loans totalling $ 114.• -4 million will have to be completely
repaid. Loans of which the terms (notably grace periods) were
not available were excluded from these amounts.
Actual debt servicing in the 1980's, however, will be
substantially higher than the foregoing suggests: interest on
these loans will also have to be paid whereas repayments on the
remaining $ 123.6 million loans will also have to start in this
decade. It should be realized that this debt-servicing only
relates to the loans contracted during the 1976 - 1980
Development Plan (and until December 1978 only).
Loans totalling $ 339-6 million had already been contracted prior
to the launching of the Plan (July 1976).
The alarming trend of the growth of Liberia's external debt
during the .'most recent years for which reliable figures were
available is shown in Table 50. This Table shows the growth of
the Public External Debt. The (relatively large) amount of
disbursed funds increased from some $ 200 million in December
1976'.to a little over $ 300 million on March 31, 1979- This may
be an indication of the Liberian economy's limited capacity to
absorb those foreign funds as the external debt (commitments)
increased by nearly $ 280 million in the same period.
The amounts mentioned in Table 50 are exclusive of some $ 121
million loans guaranteed by the Government of Liberia (on June
30, 1978) (85). Reliable figures with respect to the
Government's substantial internal debt were not available- The
importance of the latter is illustrated by the fact that in
1978 alone the Government borrowed $ 6.3 million domestically.