The International Monetary Fund has urged the Gambia
government to move forward with plans “for a fully transparent privatization of
Gamcel”, national cellular company.
However, it is still unclear whether the government
has initial plans to privatise the national cellular company again following a failed
attempt at privatizing it together with Gamtel, its parent company, some five
years.
In its latest report on The Gambia, released in
February, the IMF said such structural reforms would also help eliminate major
sources of contingent liabilities that have impaired government finances in
recent years.
The report reveals that
claims associated with the failed privatization of Gamcel, and spending on
contingent liabilities and extra-budgetary items such as bills and debt service
owed by the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), which owes millions
of dalasi to its major suppliers, were leading sources of government
expenditure overruns.
