Despite being one of the poorest and most heavily indebted countries in the world, the Government of the Gambia has spent over D5 billion between January and April this year.
Explaining to members of the National Assembly on Monday why the expenditure had increased 29 percent from last year’s D3.95 billion, Mambury Njie, minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, said the country’s recurrent expenditure has increased from D994 million in 2019 to D1.2 billion in 2020, registering a growth of 22 percent, whilst 22 percent of its approved budget was spent between January and April this year.
He said the Barrow Government had allocate an additional D500 million to the Ministry of Health under Other recurrent, which was obtained by reallocating budget votes from various budget entities including travel expenses, training and other non-essential budget line items and channelled towards combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Njie added that the country’s capital development has increased by 348 percent relative to last year, from D153 million in 2019 to D687 million in 2020 due to the first instalment payment made towards the Banjul Rehabilitation Project.
He added: “The top three spending ministries during the period under review are: Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (D916 million), Ministry of Works and Infrastructure (D478 million), and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (D372 million).
“In terms of absorption rates, the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure has absorbed 73 percent of its approved budget as of end April 2020. This is due to the payment made towards the Banjul Rehabilitation Project. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs budget absorption rate did reach 36 percent, mainly due to the increased subvention given to its satellite agencies.
The Finance minister revealed that D436 million was approved for the roads and bridges budget line, and as at end April 2020, D428 million was absorbed, representing a 98 percent absorption rate. In addition to payments being made towards the Banjul Rehabilitation Project, payments were also made towards the Laminkoto-Passimus road project.
He added: “Food and food services budget line item increased from D50 million in May 2019 to D115 million in May 2020 due to the expansion of the school feeding programme under the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, and the feeding provided to the security sector.
“Travel expenses also registered as a major expenditure item despite the recent ban on travel. One of the reasons why travel expenses recorded an increment when compared to the same period last year is due to the fact that the security sector (Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence) night/trekking allowance is currently being charged as Travel expense, unlike previous years, when it was classified as allowances.
“Given recent developments pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs intends to reprioritize the objectives of the 2020 budget and place additional emphasis on combating this pandemic by availing more resources to critical sectors, such as Health.
“We will nonetheless take all necessary steps to ascertain budget execution is conducted in a prudent and discipline manner and avoid major fiscal slippages from now until the end of 2020”.
