Minister of Finance Mulipola Anarosa Molioo has said that she is the governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) while indicating that proposed changes to the Central Bank Act are still ongoing.

The IMF, in a letter to Mulipola, warned that proposed changes to Samoa’s central banking law could open the door to political influence over the country’s financial system and “could weaken the autonomy of the Governor, including a shortened term and broader grounds for dismissal.”

In a recent press conference, Mulipola said she "did not write to the IMF" and was "shocked" by the letter.

“The IMF, in terms of international partnerships and in my position as the Minister of Finance, I am the governor of the IMF, even the World Bank and ADB," Mulipola said. Mulipola questioned how correspondence involving the IMF became public.

Earlier correspondence obtained by the Samoa Observer between Acting Central Bank of Samoa (CBS) Governor Gilbert Wongsin and the Attorney General Mauga Precious Chang showed the proposed amendments to banking laws were shared with the IMF for review. The IMF recommended deleting parts of the draft law and raised concerns about the direction of the reforms.

“During consultations, then outside voices can have a say, but the IMF has quickly jumped in, and the internal process is still ongoing,” Mulipola said. “There will come a time when I will write to the IMF once all our internal processes have been completed for the Central Bank Act.”

Mulipola said the reforms were not new and stemmed from earlier government efforts, adding that she had resumed work on them since taking office as minister.

“These changes were during the time of former Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa,” she said. “It is not new to change laws,” Mulipola said she had directed agencies within the finance sector to identify priorities.

“We met together, all 11 sectors, and my word to them was to bring in new laws that needed to be prioritised,” she said.

She mentioned the blacklist law as an example of legislation passed under the current administration. The proposed reforms have drawn concern from CBS officials and the IMF, who have warned they could affect the bank’s independence and governance.

The proposals, which have not been made public, would allow new functions to be assigned to the Central Bank through regulations rather than parliament, require the bank to brief the Minister on selected policies, and require it to submit its budget for comment. They also include broader grounds to remove the Governor.