Banjul As Most Indebted Nation in West Africa WAIFEM Director Reveals
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The Independent (Banjul)
May 27, 2002
Posted to the web May 27, 2002
Banjul
The Gambia has been described as the highest indebted nation in the
sub-region.
Making the revelation in Lagos during a recent workshop on financial and
economic reporting for West African journalists, Dr. Chris O. Itsede the
Director General of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic
Management (WAIFEM) said all the countries of the sub-region fall short of
the average poverty indicators for low income, with the greatest debt being
incurred by The Gambia.
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"Public domestic debt has been on the increase due to government borrowing
to finance deficits through instruments, such as the treasury bills, and
borrowing huge amount of loans from their financiers or the international
financial institution, to finance its projects" Itsede outlined.
The WAIFEM director said their balance of payments continue to be deficient,
because of huge public debt burden, periodic adverse shifts in the terms of
trade, and capital flights or low levels of inward investment owing to
inclement investment climate, resulting from government interference.
"This situation is embarrassing, threatening and devastating to the economy,
because of its implications on the lives of the people," he said.
Itsede confronted African countries to review their economic and social
strategies if the economic situation in the sub-region were to improve.
According to him the general economic condition of West Africans suggests
just how seriously African leaderships have failed to live up to
expectation. Itsede said this economic tragedy is painfully ironic against
the background of abundant endowments in the form of major mineral,
agricultural and hydroelectric resources.
He blamed poor and misguided leadership as responsible for the abject
poverty characterising West Africans - a situation which he said had
inevitably led to extraordinarily violent upheavals such as in Liberia,
Sierra Leone and Casamance.
Accordingly, he said most of the countries affected by civil strife are
plagued with poor management and development of their resources thereby
leaving what he called a yawning gap between potential and actual growth.
He said countries within the sub-region continue to register persistent
negative per capita growths, low standard of living, modest economic growth,
and decline in per capita income.
Despite the structural adjustment efforts employed by almost all the
countries that make up the sub-region, he asserted that little progress has
been made to move their populations out of poverty.
On the benefits of sub-regional monetary union, however, he said it would go
a long way in integrating the economies of sub-Saharan countries.
He said a region wide currency will lower transactions cost for
intra-regional payments, because of the common denominator.
'This will further facilitate intra-regional trade expansion and
liberalization process, enlarge the markets for goods, and create a common
monetary authority for all the countries of the sub-region' he posited.
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