The Plenary of the House of Representatives have ratified two financial agreements between the government and the Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. at US$27.7 million pending concurrence by the Liberian Senate.
The Representatives, on on June 13, 2023 unanimously voted to pass the agreements following a comprehensive report its Joint Committees on Ways, Means, Finance and Judiciary, and Agriculture.
The Committee’s in its report said, “the down payment facility for the Financing Agreement, the total loan of EUR 26 million, or the equivalent of US$27,707,624 for improving the agriculture sector of Liberia, and the loan facility will be used for the construction of a poultry farm in Liberia, titled ‘Liberia Integrated Egg Farm’.”
The report maintained, “That the Financing agreement, if broken down into two components as stated herein: Export Credit Facility Agreement, valued at EUR 21,558,226; and Down Payment Facility Agreement, valued at EUR 4,520,643.”
It added that the “interest rates and fees are as stated herein: for the Export Credit Facility Agreement, the interest is EURIBOR plus 1.30% per annum, and for the Down Payment Facility Agreement, the interest is EURIBOR plus 2.5% per annum.”
According to the joint Committee recommendation, “The government should ratify the Financing Agreements between the Government of Liberia and the Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. be endorsed in the interest of the people we represent.”
Bank Leumi Le Israel BM (the Bank) is an Israel-based financial institution, ss it was founded on February 27, 1902. It operates in Israel and abroad through subsidiaries of banking and non-banking corporations.
It also operates through seven business segments: Households, providing banking services to households and individuals; Small Businesses, providing banking services to small businesses and local authorities; Corporate Banking, providing banking and financial services to large and international companies for their operations worldwide; Commercial Banking, providing banking and financial services to medium-sized companies and interested parties (Middle Market).
Others are Private Banking, providing financial services and solutions to local and global private customers with a large portfolio of financial assets; Financial Management and Capital Markets, providing proprietary activity and trading rooms and servicing institutional clients and foreign financial institutions among others.
It can be recalled that President George M. Weah on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 submitted the loan agreements to the Legislature for ratification that were signed by the Republic of Liberia, through its Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, as borrower; and arranged by Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M., with Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. acting as agent.
According to the President’s communication, these agreements, which are for the construction of a poultry farm in Liberia, are dated January 18, 2023, with the total cost valued at Twenty-Six Million Seventy-Eight Thousand Eight Hundred Sixty-Nine Euros (EUR 26,078,869.00), which is equivalent to about US$28.2 million.
The President stated, “This project seeks to improve the agriculture sector through the construction of an agro- industrial poultry complex that will consist of an integrated egg farm including a feed mill, an egg packing station, a workshop center, and other necessary units.”
He added: “I trust the Legislature will ratify this agreement as it will have a significant impact on our agriculture sector by providing food security and creating jobs for our people.”
