MONROVIA, Aug. 18 -- Liberia is on course to collect more than one billion United States dollars in domestic revenue in a single year for the first time in its history, with the milestone expected to be crossed in September.

Figures from the Liberia Revenue Authority show that collections stood at US$901 million as at August 14, leaving US$99 million to be raised before the country passes a threshold that has been a stated national ambition across successive administrations. On the Authority's current run rate, that gap closes within weeks.

"One billion dollars will not be the achievement," said James Dorbor Jallah, Commissioner General of the Liberia Revenue Authority. "What it pays for is - the clinics, the classrooms and the roads we...