Lane led the mission to visit Liberia from September 21-October 1, 2010 to conduct discussions for the fifth review under the Extended Credit Facility and the 2010 Article IV Consultations. The mission met with Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan, Central Bank Governor, Joseph Mills Jones, senior officials and members of the Legislature, representatives of the private sector, civic society, and development partners.

The delegation also met and briefed President Johnson Sirleaf, according to a Finance Ministry release reported by The Informer.

Lane added: “Real GDP growth is expected to rise to above 6 percent from 4½ percent in 2009. Exports have rebounded on account of rising rubber production and prices.”

The IMF statement indicated that foreign direct investment commitments have increased sharply following the ratification of several iron ore and palm oil concession agreements, while a number of legislative acts that will significantly support private sector development and strengthen governance have been approved by the Legislature.

"Performance under the Fund supported economic program has been good. All quantitative performance criteria under the program through end-June 2010 were observed. Implementation of structural benchmarks through end-September has been generally satisfactory, although completion of national accounts data and a computerized registry of government assets have faced delays,” the statement read.

The 2010/11 budget, the IMF Mission said, was approved in September along with amendments to the Revenue Code. The budget envisages an increase of revenue and grants on account of budgetary grants and signature payments for concession agreements. Tax revenue growth is modest on account of a reduction of top rates of corporate and personal income tax effective January 1, 2011.

The mission discussed with the authorities the significant medium-term challenges, including financing of the development strategy, Liberia Rising Vision 2030, and accelerating growth outside of mining and agricultural concessions.

Discussions focused on funding sources for infrastructure over the medium term based on detailed fiscal projections and financial models of concessions. Concessions are projected to provide additional government revenue to finance a significant share of infrastructure development needs.