Liberia has submitted a record $1.54 billion draft national budget for 2027, the largest in the country's history, six days after the statutory deadline for presenting it. Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan delivered the draft to House Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon at the Capitol in Monrovia on Friday, 6 November.

The biggest budget yet

The draft projects revenue of $1.54 billion for 2027, about 23 per cent more than the record budget lawmakers approved for this year. The exact figure in the submission is $1,538,916,274. It compares with the $1.21 billion draft the government submitted for 2026 last November and the roughly $1.25 billion budget the Legislature passed in December 2025 — the first in Liberia's history to exceed $1 billion. Ngafuan did not break down the projected revenue or spending, leaving the details to the accompanying budget document.

A late submission

Under Liberia's Public Financial Management Act, the proposed budget must reach the Legislature at least two months before the start of the fiscal year, making 31 October the deadline. President Joseph Nyuma Boakai had written to lawmakers on 30 October asking for more time, saying the extra days would allow the finance ministry to refine revenue forecasts and improve allocations. Ngafuan said Friday's submission fulfilled the law's requirement that the president transmit the proposed budget to the Legislature.

What happens next

The draft now goes to legislative committees for hearings before votes in both chambers. Liberia's fiscal year runs with the calendar, so the budget is due to take effect on 1 January. Speaker Koon pledged that lawmakers would pass it on time and called for larger allocations to health and education.