By Lamin
Jahateh
 |
| Gambia national flag |
The Gambia government is currently in financial shortfall as its
revenue and grants have decreased by D4 billion in one year, from March 2012 to
March 2013, a data from the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) has indicated.
According to the quarterly report of the Monetary Policy Committee
(MPC) of the CBG – released on Tuesday, provisional data on government’s fiscal
operations in the first quarter of 2013 indicates that revenue and grants
amounted to D1.5 billion, lower than D1.9 billion in the same period in
2012.
Expenditure and net lending amounted to D1.9 billion, a contraction
of 14.5 per cent when compared to the amount registered in 2012.
As a result of the shortfall in revenue and a need for more
expenditure, the government has increased its borrowing from local sources,
such as the commercial banks in the country, to balance the difference.
In this vein, the MPC’s quarterly report of the state of the
country’s economy has it that the domestic debt of the government increased to
D11.3 billion, as at end-March 2013.
Even with the increased local borrowing, the government’s overall
fiscal deficit, including grants, increased by over D130 million – from D200
million registered in the first three months of 2012 to D330.4 million deficit
in the first quarter of 2013.
However, though the overall revenue of the government decreased,
domestic revenue has increased from D1.2 billion recorded in the first quarter
of 2012 to D1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2013.
Treasury bills, through which governments borrow money, account for
77.2 per cent of The Gambia government’s debt stock. It has increased to D8.7 billion, an
increment of 23.5 per cent.
Dalasi
continues to lose value
The national currency of the country, the Dalasi, continues to
weaken in value against all major international currencies.
The MPC report said the Dalasi depreciates against the British
Pound by 12.62 per cent, the US dollar by 11.87 per cent and the Euro by 12 per
cent.
“In Nominal Effective Exchange Rate terms, the domestic currency
depreciated by 2.6 per cent in March 2013 compared with an appreciation of 0.4
per cent a year earlier,” the MPC said.
However, the depreciated exchange rate provides an opportunity for
the export sector to become more competitive in a challenging global
environment.
Inflation
projected to further increase
