Liberian to chair West Africa monetary committee

Liberia’s Central Bank Governor John Mills Jones has been elected chairman of the West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ).

He replaces Mr Sheku Sesay of the Bank of Sierra Leone.

Speaking in Monrovia Wednesday following his election, Dr Jones assured member states of WAMZ that despite being the latest entrant, Liberia should not be seen as a burden to the organisation.

“Our leadership is no burden and no disadvantage because we are prepared for it. It is true that we joined two years ago, but we have contributed significantly to WAMZ,” Dr Jones pointed out.

He assured that Liberia would remain committed to fulfilling its obligation to WAMZ.

Dr Jones added that Liberia had pursued economic policies geared towards meeting the convergence criteria, emphasising: “It is important to note that since Liberia acceded to WAMZ in February 2010, the country has consistently met all of the four primary convergence criteria, except for the last review at end December 2011 in which it missed the single digit inflation criterion.”

He pointed out that Liberia was back on track, with 7.1 per cent digit inflation rate at the end of June 2012.

The Liberian Central Bank Governor thanked the Mr Sesay for his leadership in steering the affairs of WAMZ.

Earlier, the outgoing chairman urged his colleagues to see the ongoing 27th meeting of governors at the time when the global economy was in crisis, as a challenge to remain focused.

Governors from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, Gambia and Liberia are attending the week-long conference in Monrovia.