Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed U.S. assistance to Liberia to determine whether: (1) there was any misuse or diversion of U.S. assistance; and (2) accountability for and controls over U.S. assistance were adequate.
GAO found that: (1) the government of Liberia has not established a fiscal and economic policy favorable to donor assistance, nor has it established an adequate level of accountability for development programs; (2) the United States only recently established sufficient controls over its assistance to Liberia; (3) the United States is reluctant to enforce certain conditions to promote fiscal and economic reforms; and (4) in some instances, Liberia did not use U.S. assistance for its intended purposes. GAO also found that: (1) although the Agency for International Development has made improvements in the P.L. 480 program, it needs to take further action to protect funds generated from commodity sales; and (2) the development assistance projects had a limited effect because Liberia did not always meet its counterpart funding requirements.
