Gambia News : Gambia economy grew by 6% in 2008
May 23,2009 00:00
by
Anna
Leader of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to the Gambia,
Mr. Robert Powell, has said that although “The economy of The Gambia
grew by about 6% in 2008, economic growth is expected to be weaker in
2009 in the face of a significant fall in receipts from tourism and
remittances resulting from the global slowdown."He made the declaration in a press statement, released here Friday, at the end of the IMF mission to The Gambia on "Progress Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)-Supported Programme".
According to the release, the IMF team visited Banjul from 8-21 May to assess the progress made under the government’s economic programme supported by the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF).
The press statement said the IMF mission held meetings with the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Mousa Gibril Bala-Gaye, Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Momodou Bamba Saho, other senior government officials, legislators, the private sector, and members of the donor community during the mission.
The IMF team said a strong rebound in agricultural production in 2008 was supporting a recovery in manufacturing and trade-related services this year, and that growth in 2009 was expected to be about 31/2%, which is higher than the regional average.
Inflation is also expected to remain under control, the monetary expert said.
“The Gambia has continued to make progress under the IMF-supported programme. In the period up to March 2009, government revenues have achieved the budget targets, and government borrowing has been contained within planned levels," Mr. Powell said.
"The central bank has also achieved its target for international reserves, following sharp falls at the end of 2008,” the statement read.
It said, however, that “Even after the debt relief provided recently under the HIPC and Multilateral Debt Relief initiatives, Gambia’s external debt remains high.
"It remains critical, therefore, to establish a medium-term debt management strategy that sets clear goals for reducing debt ratios further. This requires limiting external borrowing to highly concessional loans, and stepping up efforts to seek grant finance to support implementation."