{"id":4193,"date":"2019-12-27T19:54:32","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T19:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/gambia\/?p=4193"},"modified":"2019-12-27T19:54:32","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T19:54:32","slug":"a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth","title":{"rendered":"A BIG Chunk Of Gambia\u2019s 2020 Budget Goes To Debt Repayment Experts Believe This Is Not Encouraging Economic Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"td-outer-wrap\" class=\"td-theme-wrap\">\n<div class=\"tdc-header-wrap \">\n<div class=\"td-header-wrap td-header-style-11 \">\n<div class=\"td-header-menu-wrap-full td-container-wrap td_stretch_container td_stretch_content_1200\">\n<div class=\"td-header-menu-wrap td-header-gradient \">\n<div class=\"td-container td-header-row td-header-main-menu\">\n<div class=\"header-search-wrap\">\n<div class=\"td-search-btns-wrap\">The 2020 budget estimates has been approved by the National Assembly on Wednesday 11th December 2019.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tdb-autoload-article\" data-autoload=\"off\" data-autoload-org-post-id=\"37909\" data-autoload-type=\"\" data-autoload-count=\"5\">\n<div class=\"td-main-content-wrap td-container-wrap\">\n<div class=\"tdc-content-wrap\">\n<article id=\"template-id-33939\" class=\"post-33939 tdb_templates type-tdb_templates status-publish post\">\n<div id=\"tdi_8_25e\" class=\"tdc-zone\">\n<div class=\"tdc_zone tdi_9_885  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div id=\"tdi_10_e45\" class=\"tdc-row stretch_row_1200 td-stretch-content\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_11_644 td-ss-row wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_13_9e2  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span8\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_36_9e2 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_4 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_36_9e2\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>The amount spent on servicing debts is quite substantial. This is recognised by the Minister when delivering a statement while tabling the estimates for the year 2020.<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cDebt interest payment is projected to consume around forty percent of Government\u2019s tax revenue in 2020 compared to 26 percent in 2019, moving from 2.702 billion in 2019 to 4.648 billion in 2020. The increment is as a result of mounting debt stock, domestic debt in particular, coupled with the envisaged rolling over of some of the domestic debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Based on the budget, the Gambia government expenditure for the year 2020 is estimated at over D24 billion, out of the total expenditure of over D28 billion, resulting to an increase in the national debt. The deficit of over 3 billion dalasis amount is more than the combination of several Ministries\u2019 allocation.<\/p>\n<p>This means the government is left with a limited sum to spend on salaries and other development endeavours.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, The Gambia government\u2019s total domestic debt has increased to D33 billion. Consequently, the total debt stock of the country, foreign plus domestic, has also risen to D71 billion, as disclosed by the Ministry of Finance Mamburay Njie during his presentation of the budget at the National Assembly.<\/p>\n<p>The domestic debt stock continues to increase year in, year out because every year the government goes to the banks and other lenders in the country to borrow money to finance its operations.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-37574\" src=\"https:\/\/foroyaa.gm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Minister-of-Finance-Mambury-Njie.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1373\" height=\"843\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>Finance Minister at the National Assembly<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sadibou Jammeh from the Gambia Investment &amp; Export Promote Agency (GEIPA) Responsible for business development services said Gambia\u2019s debt is as a result of the Government spending more than what it generates.<br \/>\n\u201cThe Government wants to do more, but have less, so they must go for debt; this is the cause of deficit financing.\u201d<br \/>\nHe added, \u201cThe point is borrowing is not bad, but where you spend this money when you borrow is the most important thing to consider.\u201d<br \/>\nMr. Jammeh noted that, \u201cThe 33 billion domestic debt is not small money.\u201d<br \/>\nHe said Deficit financing increases inflation, as such the prices of commodities will be more than the purchasing power or living standards of the average Gambian which he said is the current reality in the Gambia.<br \/>\nThe GEIPA member of staff who is also a Lecturer at the University of the Gambia (UTG) underscores that there must be inflation in the Gambia because the money the government is borrowing is not actually what it generates. He also said they (government) sometimes bring in monies that are not necessary at some point.<br \/>\nHe said \u201cbecause we have seen that in The Gambia some of these monies will go to places that are not relevant, Prices go up and the living standards of the people stay stagnant,\u201d which he said is not good for Economic growth.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_37911\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37911\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-37911\" src=\"https:\/\/foroyaa.gm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Sadibou-Jammeh-GEIPA.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"809\" height=\"1080\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-37911\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sadibou Jammeh GEIPA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nyang Njie a Gambian Economist also said, \u201cThe way government borrows from the people is disturbing the Economy because people prefer giving the government their money than taking it to the bank,\u201d adding \u201cbecause what the Government gives as the interest rate is more than the interest you get when you deposit it in the Banks.\u201d<br \/>\nHe said this is making Banks to receive less money from individuals, making it difficult for businesses to access finance from the Banks. \u201cWhen the Banks are not having enough money, it will be difficult to give out monies to those businesses,\u201d which he said is definitely disturbing the Economy.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_37913\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37913\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-37913\" src=\"https:\/\/foroyaa.gm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Nyang-Njie-Economist-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"737\" height=\"627\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-37913\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nyang Njie Economist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ba Lamin Darboe Finance and Economics Lecturer University of The Gambia said the country is a tax based economy and that there is need to expand employment opportunities to engage the chunk of the population who are youths. This he said will widen the source of resources for the government through the payment of tax. He also added that companies should be encouraged to invest in the country to expand the employment and tax-based economy. He cited that the unemployment rate is high which about 40 percent is. Mr. Daboe noted that this is not good for economic growth.<br \/>\nHe also said that not everybody is paying the right tax, noting the importance of expanding the business sector, which he said, encourages tax payment. He also cited the expanding of the seaport and the airport to encourage more ships and more productivity in the airport as well, which he said can help the country to generate more income.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_37914\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37914\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-37914\" src=\"https:\/\/foroyaa.gm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Ba-Lamin-Darboe-UTG-Lecturer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"687\" height=\"535\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-37914\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ba Lamin Darboe UTG Lecturer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Solutions of the Problem<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Gambian Economists Nyang Njie believes that the solution to the problem is to have laws that will put a ceiling on how much money the government can borrow each year. He said: \u201cIf this is in place, it will control the fiscal deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also underscored the importance of debt restructuring, among which Mr. Njie said the government should try and extend the duration of when to pay the domestic debt. Citing an example on the process, Mr. Njie said for instance, the current treasury bills debt payment is pegged at 3 months, 6 months or one year and it cannot go beyond one year. According to him, the government should look into means of borrowing in which the duration of payment will at least be a longer period such as 3 years or 6 years, and within this period government will only be paying interest. He said this will give the government enough time to generate more funds to be able to pay its debt.<\/p>\n<p>The National Assembly member for Banjul North Constituency raised the issue of the increase of Gambia\u2019s debt during his intervention on the debate of the 2020 budget estimate in parliament. He told Finance Minister Mamburay Njie that despite the hikes on the debt, \u201cI have not seen any efforts made by the executive towards reducing this colossal sum, but instead the executive is bent on contracting more loans that would increase this loan portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Honourable Sillah said governance, management of the economy and service deliveries to the citizenry are challenges for the country, adding that it is important to focus on these sectors with the objective of addressing the challenges in those sectors.<br \/>\nHe tasked the current administration to launch a crusade towards ensuring that the government moves away from contracting loans and grants and invest in the productive sectors of the economy.<\/p>\n<p>Sillah emphasized: \u201cThese are three challenges of the government and the executive should take note and do its utmost to address these challenges. We should rationally look into this and provide remedies. The upkeep of the State House and the Office of the Vice President are in the tune of 20 and 3 million dalasi\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He recommended for Parliament to look at the budget lines for the State House and the Office of the Vice President, adding that what is budgeted for the two offices is staggering and over the mark.<\/p>\n<p>He remarked: \u201cWe can make enough savings and divert it to other sectors such as health and agriculture, as well as reduce borrowing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Honourable member stressed that they will be engaging the sectors on a quarterly basis in conjunction with the Finance Ministry, with a view to ascertaining how much has been requested from the Finance Ministry and how much has been released as per the budget allocation and where it has been spent.<\/p>\n<p>He urged the government to take the lead role and encourage the private sector to ensure that investment is made to empower young people as well as the development of the informal sector, to ensure budget sustainability and reduce the trend of contracting loans and grants for national development.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_37915\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37915\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-37915\" src=\"https:\/\/foroyaa.gm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Hon-Ousman-Sillah.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"658\" height=\"438\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-37915\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hon Ousman Sillah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mr. Jammeh citing some of the solutions to these problems said even if the government had to borrow, they should consider investing it more into the productive sector. He said the government should also encourage more on re-export, recalling that in the 1980s the Gambian economy was doing well due to the high-re-export of goods and the country was well known for re-export trade due to its strategic location.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of West African Nations used to import their goods through the Gambia, which is cleared here, and later re-exported to these various countries such as Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea Conakry Mauritania among others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said the re-export trade has helped Gambians to earn a lot of Revenue from it because it was a good thing for our productive sector.<\/p>\n<p>He cited Agriculture as a key sector that produces at least 23 percent of Gambia\u2019s Gross Domestic Product. Mr. Jammeh said the 2020 budget allocation is low, asking whether the government should be spending more money on productive sectors that can generate income for them or sectors that consume more money; adding that they should also reduce spending on many of the existing Gambian Embassies abroad.<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cI think Government should definitely reduce the embassies and the monies to be diverted into the productive sector and increase the value in Agriculture, so that government\u2019s revenue will increase and it will reduce borrowing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to him, The Gambia is small but during the colonial period it was indeed a hub for trading. He added The Gambia needs to exploit this advantage which is an endowment.<br \/>\nHe also said the government should utilise 50 percent of the country\u2019s freshwater for agricultural production. This, he said, will generate more impact and boost economic growth. Mr. Sadibou Jammeh said Countries like India have taken a lot of money from deficit financing and invested into their productive sectors such as agriculture for many years and it has yielded a lot of revenue for them. Now they borrow less money and produce more revenue for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Nyang Njie said deficit financing is not bad, but the only bad thing is if you borrow and put it in recurrence expenditure such as payment of salaries, travel expenses, payment of rent for embassies abroad among others. He said the monies spent goes out without reproducing. \u201cThe Gambia should reduce borrowing money for recurrent expenditures. These amounts of money government is borrowing and putting them in the recurrent or unnecessary expenditures, will be paid by generations yet unborn\u201d, Mr. Njie remarked<br \/>\nThe UTG lecturer Mr. Darboe said in last year\u2019s budget, the government put zero tax on rice but still now the price remains the same. The reason for this, he disclosed, is because there were ships with rice in the sea waiting to dock in a longer period and they had to pay more expenses because of the longevity of their stay; noting that, the supplier still incurs expenses. He believes that the main thing is to expand the seaport. \u201cIt is one of the key areas that can generate government a lot of money, as well as the expansion of the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_48_0c4  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span4\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap td_block_social_counter tdi_50_dbe td-social-style8 td-social-boxed td-social-font-icons td-pb-border-top td_block_template_4\">\n<div class=\"td-social-list\">\n<div class=\"td_social_type td-pb-margin-side td_social_twitter\">\n<div class=\"td-social-box\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td-footer-wrapper td-footer-container td-container-wrap td-footer-template-2 td_stretch_container td_stretch_content_1200\">\n<div class=\"td-container\">\n<div class=\"td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"td-pb-span4\">\n<div class=\"td-footer-info\">\n<div class=\"footer-logo-wrap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2020 budget estimates has been approved by the National Assembly on Wednesday 11th December 2019. The amount spent on servicing debts is quite substantial. This is recognised by the Minister when delivering a statement while tabling the estimates for the year 2020. He said, \u201cDebt interest payment is projected to consume around forty percent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":4194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,7,8],"tags":[2291,2292,1065],"class_list":["post-4193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","tag-2020-budget","tag-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget","tag-gambia-news-everyday"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A BIG Chunk Of Gambia\u2019s 2020 Budget Goes To Debt Repayment Experts Believe This Is Not Encouraging Economic Growth - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A BIG Chunk Of Gambia\u2019s 2020 Budget Goes To Debt Repayment Experts Believe This Is Not Encouraging Economic Growth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2020 budget estimates has been approved by the National Assembly on Wednesday 11th December 2019. The amount spent on servicing debts is quite substantial. This is recognised by the Minister when delivering a statement while tabling the estimates for the year 2020. 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The amount spent on servicing debts is quite substantial. This is recognised by the Minister when delivering a statement while tabling the estimates for the year 2020. He said, \u201cDebt interest payment is projected to consume around forty percent [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2019-12-27T19:54:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":441,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2019\/12\/Finance-Minister-at-the-National-Assembly-768x441-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"adama","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"adama","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth"},"author":{"name":"adama","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/a7488a69bb91ed4cb95c78165665a7c2"},"headline":"A BIG Chunk Of Gambia\u2019s 2020 Budget Goes To Debt Repayment Experts Believe This Is Not Encouraging Economic Growth","datePublished":"2019-12-27T19:54:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth"},"wordCount":1823,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2019\/12\/Finance-Minister-at-the-National-Assembly-768x441-1.jpg","keywords":["2020 budget","BIG Chunk Of Gambia\u2019s 2020 Budget","gambia news everyday"],"articleSection":["all news","community","head lines","homepage-english"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/a-big-chunk-of-gambias-2020-budget-goes-to-debt-repayment-experts-believe-this-is-not-encouraging-economic-growth","name":"A BIG Chunk Of Gambia\u2019s 2020 Budget Goes To Debt Repayment Experts Believe This Is Not Encouraging Economic Growth - 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