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Claim: A former assistant minister of the Weah-led administration said, “When the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) left office in 2023, the exchange rate was at 174.”
Verdict: Misleading. The Central Bank of Liberia’s daily exchange rate shows the rate was at 188 when the CDC left office.
Full Text
Amid the sudden reduction of Liberia’s exchange rate, a former assistant minister at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) has sharply criticised the state of Liberia’s economy under the Boakai-led administration.
Appearing as a debater on the Sept. 15, 2025, edition of the OK Conversation, Benedict Kolubah argued the CDC under George Weah gave the government of President Joseph Boakai a better economy, saying they failed to take care of it.
Benedict, a staunch supporter of the former ruling CDC, claimed, “When we left in 2023, the exchange rate was at 174”.
He can be heard from 1:07:09 to 1:07:13 of the show, which had 1,500 comments, 485 reactions, and 126 shares as of September 22, 2024.
Given the economic nature and implications of Kolubah’s assertion, DUBAWA verified.
Verification
DUBAWA first contacted Benedict to provide the source of his assertion.
In his response on WhatsApp, Kolubah cited page 54 of the Central Bank of Liberia’s annual report for 2023.
He took screenshots of the exact portions of the report as his quotes.
The first sentence reads: “In 2023, the Liberian dollar ‘(on average)’ depreciated by 22.0 percent to L$174.96 per US$1.00, from L$152.93 per US$1.00 in 2022, despite the relatively tight monetary policy stance of the CBL.
One of the screenshots Kolubah shared with DUBAWA
DUBAWA then visited the official website of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) to ascertain the former assistant minister’s claim.
CBL is Liberia’s principal bank, with a duty to achieve and maintain price stability in the Liberian economy.
The daily exchange rates of the bank show, as of the entire last month of 2023, the buying rate stayed at L$187, while the selling rate was at L$188 and L$189.
The buying rate jumped to L$188 by Jan. 8, 2024, and remained at that by Jan. 24, 2024, two days after the CDC tenure ended on Jan. 22, 2024.
The selling rate also moved to L$190 on Jan. 16, 2024, and stayed at that, days after Weah left office.
Conclusion
From the CBL’s daily rate, Benedict Kolubah’s assertion that the CDC left the exchange rate at 174 is misleading.
