Can we stop The Gambia Debt Stock from climbing?The report is worth thinking of at least for a moment. Debt Stock On the Increase Panafrican News Agency December 7, 2000 Paschal Eze Banjul, Gambia Gambia's total debt stock, which increased from 390 million US dollars in 1992 to 566 million dollars in 1999, is expected to record further increase by the end of 2000, an official source said. In presenting the 2001 budget to the National Assembly Wednesday, the secretary of Finance and Economic Affairs, Famara Jatta, said 75 percent of the debt is external, while 25 percent is domestic. He said the external debt amounted to 425 million dollars while the local debt stood at 141 million dollars. Jatta predicted that Gambia's external debt would reach 439.5 million dollars by the end of the year. He complained about the country's alarming debt increase, saying it is no longer bearable especially when over 30 percent of its budgetary expenditure were going toward debt servicing. He also agreed domestic debt stock was negatively affecting private sector investment. Jatta, however, cited that improvements were in all sectors of the economy in fiscal 2000, crediting prudent financial management and a resolve to improve the living conditions of Gambians for such trends. He said inflation dropped in 1999, but that the local currency - the dalasi - was persistently under pressure against most international currencies, especially the US dollar and British pound sterling. Jatta noted that the dalasi depreciated in general terms by 5.4 percent, and that in the first ten months of 2000, it fell against the US dollar by 19 percent and against the British pound by 15 percent. He announced some incentives for the private sector, featuring the reduction of the annual expatriate quota from 30,000 dalasi to 20,000 dalasi. The private sector had complained that the high expatriate quota levied in the country discourages foreign investment, and the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry discussed the matter during a recent pre-budget meeting with Jatta. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2000 Panafrican News Agency. Distributed by allAfrica.com. For information about the content or for permission to redistribute, publish or use for broadcast, contact the publisher. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------