President Adama Barrow has said that his government attaches great importance to every public institution and sector, adding that any sector that fails to perform well could undermine the performance of other sectors and the nation at large.
The Gambian leader made this statement on Thursday at the National Assembly during his State of the Nation address.
Mr. Barrow said that country’s economic growth has generally strengthened, while inflation has now moderated. He added that for the past two years, the economy grew by 4.8% in 2017 and improved to 6.5% in 2018.
According to the Gambian leader, balance of payments (BoP) estimates indicate that the current account deficit narrowed to 1.5 percent of GDP in the first half of 2019 compared to a deficit of 1.7 percent of GDP in the corresponding quarter in 2018.
“The improvement in the current account balance is attributed to the increase in foreign inflows related to the support from development partners, diaspora remittances, and tourism.”
“Gross international reserves are projected at 4 months of next year’s imports of goods and services.”
“The exchange rate of the dalasi remains broadly stable supported by market confidence, and increased inflows from private remittances, higher receipts from tourism, and official inflows from development partners.”
“Government fiscal operations for the first six months of 2019 indicated that total revenue and grants stood at 9.8 percent of GDP compared to 8.6 percent of GDP in the same period last year,” Mr. barrow said.
He admitted that the total expenditure and net lending declined from 11.5 percent of GDP a year ago to 10 percent of GDP in the first part of 2019.
“According to the financial soundness indicators, the banking sector remains adequately capitalized, highly liquid and profitable. The ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans declined to 2.3 percent from 2.7 percent a year ago, largely reflecting enhanced credit administration processes and effective loan recovery measures.”
President Barrow points out that the private sector credit expanded by 28.8 percent, higher than 20 percent a year ago, adding that the private sector expected to play a significant role in financing of the National Development Plan (2018-2021).
“We have drafted a revision to the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Law with the support of Expertise France and other International Financial Institutions. “As a result, we will submit the bill to the National Assembly for consideration.”
