The Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, the Honorable Musa Bala Gaye, has said that trends in the Gambia’s economic development have shown considerable improvements with relative macroeconomic stability since 2004.

In a speech delivered at a one-day stakeholders sensitization meeting organized by the Gambia Government in conjunction with the UNDP held recently at the Kairaba Beach Hotel, Secy Gaye stated:  “Strong Macroeconomic policies have been implemented by the government resulting in significant real growth. These policies have also led to growth across a number of sectors and the expansion of investment in the country.

Real growth rates in 2007 are expected to reach a robust 7%. According to the Secretary of State gross international reserves currently stand at around 5.5 months of import cover and inflation is expected to drop to 5% by the end of 2007 from its current level of 6%. He added that the fiscal outlook for 2007 remains encouraging as there will be a budget surplus nearing 2.6% of GDP. These factors have been responsible for the recent appreciation of the Dalasi.

The Honorable Gaye added that recent statistics suggest that poverty levels are still high, affecting around 58% of the population, in The Gambia. He added however that other areas of society such as education and health have seen significant progress and are on course to meet the targets set down in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s).

He added that recent studies have shown remarkable improvements in social indices. The population growth rate has fallen from 4.2% in 1993 to 2.8% in 2003, which he says is meaningful especially if considered in the context of the high economic growth of the recent past.

According to Mr Gaye the Government of The Gambia prepared its first strategy for poverty alleviation (SPA1) and SPA2 with a view to reducing poverty. He added that The Gambia plans to realize both its vision and the MDG goals through a series of five-year development plans. The long-term goal of PRSP2 is to eradicate poverty by significantly increasing national income through sustained economic growth and also reducing the income/non-income inequalities.

In concluding Secy Gaye said that specific poverty reduction priorities must ensure maximum private sector participation and investment.