The Gambia has satisfied all four primary convergence criteria set out by the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) for the introduction of a common currency in The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Conakry, Ghana and Nigeria, a press release from the Department of State for Finance and Economic Affairs has said.

The recent macroeconomic developments in the country have been confirmed by the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), who conducted a multilateral surveillance mission to The Gambia from 19 to 27 March this year, to look at the country’s performance against the macroeconomic convergence criteria set for introducing a common currency in the WAMZ.

According to the release, sent yesterday to The Point, the WAMI report attributed the "impressive" macroeconomic developments of The Gambia in 2006 to mainly the significant progress made by the Gambia authorities in consolidating the gains registered in recent years.

The WAMI report states: "Economic fundamentals have been strengthened year after year since 2003. The Gambia achieved significant milestones both in macroeconomic management and policy harmonization in line with the 2005 Banjul Declaration Action Plan. The country satisfied all four primary convergence criteria for the first time since the commencement of the convergence process."

These, according to the release, include the Fiscal Deficit (excluding grants as a percentage of GDP), Inflation rate, Gross External Reserves (in months of import cover) and Central Bank Financing of the Fiscal Deficit.

The release states: "The overall fiscal performance in 2006 has improved significant from 2005, despite the budgetary challenges posed by the elections and the AU Summit.

The fiscal deficit (on commitment basis, excluding grants) narrowed from 7.4% of GDP in 2005 to 2.7% of GDP in 2006. Including grants, the fiscal deficit improved from 5.6% in 2005 to 2.1% in 2006.

The debt dependency ratios declined to 16.5% from 25.7% in 2005. This relatively lower recourse to debt for financing the deficit was as a result of increased revenue performance."

In addition to macroeconomic convergence, the release further noted, developments in the areas specified in the Banjul Action Plan showed that The Gambia continued to make progress in payments system development, statistical harmonization, as well as financial sector integration and sensitization.