Gambia economic growth seen 5 percent in 2009: central bank

Reuters    Translate This Article
30 December 2009

BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia's economy will grow by 5.0 percent in 2009, thanks in part to stronger second-quarter growth in the agricultural sector, Central Bank Governor Bamba Saho said on Tuesday.

Gambia, a tiny slither of land within Senegal on the coast of West Africa, has few natural resources, and most of its population is involved in subsistence farming.

The country recently passed a 5.47 billion dalasis budget for 2010, a 20 percent increase from 2009, on the back of higher tax revenue, grants and external budget support. For details see

Saho spoke at a news conference held by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank. Below are some highlights from his speech:

* Provisional data on government fiscal operations in the first ten months of 2009 indicate that revenue and grants rose to 4.3 billion dalasis from 3.1 billion dalasis in the same period in 2008.

* Gross official reserves at end of November stood at $182.40 million, equivalent to 7.5 months of import cover.

* Inflation data from the Gambia Bureau of Statistics, as measured by the National Consumer Price Index, continues to point to the easing of inflationary pressures, and headline inflation will likely be contained below the 6.0 percent target by the end of December.

* Food consumer price inflation fell to 2.7 percent at the end of November from 8.4 percent a year earlier. Non-food consumer price inflation also declined by nearly 2.0 percentage points to 2.7 percent during the same period.

* The Central Bank's measure of core inflation, which excludes prices of energy and volatile food items, also decreased to 3.0 percent in November from 6.6 percent in November 2008.

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