{"id":90605,"date":"2025-11-20T15:52:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T15:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/tunkara-defends-2026-budget-against-opposition-criticism"},"modified":"2025-11-20T16:09:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T16:09:28","slug":"tunkara-defends-2026-budget-against-opposition-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/tunkara-defends-2026-budget-against-opposition-criticism","title":{"rendered":"Tunkara Defends 2026 Budget against Opposition Criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>Hon. Billay G. Tunkara, the Majority Leader and representative for Kantora, on Wednesday mounted a firm defense of the government\u2019s 2026 draft budget, dismissing opposition claims of excessive borrowing, inadequate education support, and poor fiscal priorities as unfounded.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Speaking during the National Assembly\u2019s debate on the estimates, Mr. Tunkara said critics had mischaracterized the budget and urged lawmakers to rely on accurate information. \u201cAnything you are giving in Parliament must be accurate,\u201d he said. \u201cDo your studies and do your investigation before you come here to mislead Parliament or give narrations that are really unfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He rejected allegations that the government is increasingly dependent on loans, arguing that both domestic and external borrowing make up only a marginal share of the proposed spending plan. \u201cGo to page three; look at the foreign borrowing [and] amortization of domestic borrowing. It is just 2 percent of the budget,\u201d he said. \u201cYou cannot come here and give things that are unfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Tunkara also pointed to large-scale infrastructure projects\u2014particularly the OIC road network approved at a cost of $93 million\u2014as evidence of responsible public investment. \u201cWho can say that that road did not impact traffic, trade, and commerce?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing concerns about a reduction in government-funded scholarships, he noted that a newly approved student loan program offers an alternative route for financing higher education. \u201cThis Parliament has passed a bill; the student revolving loan scheme government will give you a loan, and once you start working, you pay it back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He praised the administration\u2019s commitment to education, observing that the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education is slated to receive 13.59 percent of the national budget. \u201cFor any nation to strive and develop, you must invest heavily in education,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>On health spending, Mr. Tunkara acknowledged ongoing challenges. \u201cIt is never enough to finance health,\u201d he said, adding that the government is nonetheless working to improve service delivery.<\/p>\n<p>He further commended recent reforms that he said have strengthened the country\u2019s revenue base. \u201cWe are able to sustain. In fact, we can do without external donors,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Tunkara highlighted increases in agricultural funding as another sign of progress, noting that the sector is poised to receive 1.7 billion dalasis\u2014its largest allocation in more than a decade. \u201cFor more than 10 years, agriculture did not have funding like this year\u2019s 1.7 billion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. Hon. Billay G. Tunkara, the Majority Leader and representative for Kantora, on Wednesday mounted a firm defense of the government\u2019s 2026 draft budget, dismissing opposition claims of excessive borrowing, inadequate education support, and poor fiscal priorities as unfounded. Speaking during the National Assembly\u2019s debate on the estimates, Mr. Tunkara said critics had [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":90604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-90605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-gambia"],"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>Tunkara Defends 2026 Budget against Opposition Criticism - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hon. Billay G. 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