Ebrima and Dampha, Ebrima thank you for sending the budget speech. I will read the shallow budget speech and give feedback. This budget needs to be discussed chapter by chapter and one will surely do that. The Struggle Continues!!! Ndey Jobarteh >From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Read the Budget Speech 2001 >Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 12:38:02 -0500 > > >Ebrima, thanks for forwarding this to G_L. I just glanced at the lengthy >document for the first time. Be rest assured that I will study it during >the >course of the next weekend and see how this government continues to fail >the >Gambian people. Suffice for me to say at this stage that I was not >encouraged with the little I saw from Famara Jatta. I could not find a >single sector that the government did not register a decline or failure to >meet projections. This is pathetic. Knowing these incompetent functionaries >(Jatta et al), am sure their projections were very modest (conservative). >So >it speaks volumes if they say that they did not meet those benchmarks they >set for themselves. These people did not have anything to offer us except >misery. What is the point in reporting increased output in groundnut >production if the farmers are not given a conducive environment to sell >their nuts? Ebrima, I was also particularly struck by the magnitude of our >debt burden. This is where such silly economist words like 'staggering' >should be used. I hope the opposition back home will challenge Jatta to >itemize this debt burden. Jatta should be asked to account for the almost >US$200 million that came into the country in the last seven years. May be >some economists on the List can tell us the rationale behind Jatta's >decision to use stats from 1992 and not 1994. Jatta should be asked to >isolate the amount Yaya's government borrowed and explain where Yaya and >his >cohorts put that money. US$200 million is a lot of money and I can safely >predict that Yaya's corrupt government borrowed 80% of the amount. What can >they show for it? An airport terminal building that is leaking. A >refurbished state house. A road in the middle of no where ordinary Gambians >go. The list of silly projects goes on. Instead of solving the nation's >energy problem, building roads ordinary Gambians can use to go to work, >building low income houses etc., corrupt civil servants use our scarce >resources to finance silly trips abroad and collude in building hefty >foreign bank accounts for Yaya. Ebrima, there is massive fraud going on in >the country. The major culprits are the likes of Famara Jatta and those so >called intellectuals behind a mental midget like Yaya. Today, if we >challenged Jatta, he would not be able to tell us how to manage a viable >economy in The Gambia. These people have neither the wherewithal, not the >integrity to run a country with a thug like Yaya at the helm. They are not >prepared to do what it would take to turn things around. I can guarantee >that if these people were to stay till next year (which will not happen), >Jatta will be back with another dismal report. There will be many declines >and in areas where there are improvements, they will fail to meet modest >projections. Just how is Jatta going to succeed in reducing both the >internal and external debt burdens at the same time that they are reducing >taxes and increasing spending to reduce poverty? Can't happen. Especially >in >an environment where there is no incentive for people to be more >productive. >Especially also, at a stage when Jatta is telling us that our major sectors >(agriculture and tourism) are showing declined earnings. Let us for one >moment probe into how our government services (reduces) its external loans. >Ordinarily, when a payment is due, Central Bank should use part of our >reserves (built mainly from grants and loans) to service our external debt >burden. What our rogue government does, is anybody's guess. So in other >words, we are borrowing to pay debts. The Central Bank can also get dalasis >which it would convert to foreign currencies before depositing the money in >foreign accounts (reserves). This has the dual purpose of helping to build >up the reserves and also getting rid of excess dalasis in the economy. But >what they do not tell you is that this money comes mainly from internal >lenders (commercial banks and SSHFC). So here again, we are borrowing to >pay >off debts. Nothing but a Ponzy Scheme. Paying old lenders with money from >new lenders. Ebrima, it is not every year that we will be able to sell >Atlantic Hotel and pay some of our debtors. So reducing the internal debt >burden would tantamount to not paying civil servant salaries. This so >called >'internal debt' is just a fancy way of describing the money government gets >from the sale of treasury bills. In my opinion, this phenomenon is the >major >reason why commercial banks cannot play a major role in private sector >development. Ebrima, private businessmen compete with the government for >loans from the banks and SSHFC. It is just logical that when that happens, >the government wins, because it lures the banks with a very high interest >rate and a guarantee that they will get paid. Why would the banks risk >lending to a private businessman at ridiculously high interest rates when >they can get a 19% return from the government that technically cannot go >bankrupt? Yaya and Jatta cannot solve this conundrum. If they forego the >money they get from Standard Bank through treasury bills, they will not be >able to pay salaries and pay down the external national debt. On the other >hand, so long as Standard Chartered can make a cool 19% from the >government, >they will not lend to ordinary Gambians if they are not Amadou Samba or >Charbel Elhajj. So local lenders cannot support a private sector led >growth. >Ebrima, I will leave the tax (fiscal issues) to more seasoned economists or >to a later day. At this stage I will just say that massive fraud also goes >on in that domain. Take the cost of gas for instance. Almost 75% of the >cost of gas in the country goes to the government in one form of tax or the >other. The high cost of this essential commodity is one of the major causes >of our poor stage of development. When Famara Jatta talks about the hike in >oil prices worldwide, what he does not say is that those price hikes have >little or no bearing on the price of gas in The Gambia. What he should talk >about, is the size of the tax slapped on the price of gas that is imported >into the country. What he also does not talk about, is the over-heads oil >companies pass on to consumer as a result of bribes paid to finance >ministers. African countries are addicted to this tax. There is nothing >wrong in collecting taxes. But, for Heaven's sake, put the money into good >use. It would have been acceptable to most Gambians if their tax dalasis >were used to build better roads (as opposed to dead traps) from up country >to Banjul (rather than from Yundum airport to the hotels). Most people >would >also live with their tax dalasis going towards buying better electricity >generating equipment. But the reality on the ground, is that we have >incompetent civil servants who spend their days seeking creative means of >finding trips to go abroad and receive allowances from the government >rather >than finding ways to contribute to our national development. Let me hasten >to add that I do not paint all civil servants with the same brush. Those >without a trace of integrity know themselves. What we also have, are >nonentities like Yaya who did not even have a complete high school >education >telling professionals what to do. Yaya does not know a darn thing about how >to run an economy. Under normal circumstances, he should have been relying >on Famara Jatta to advise him in this field. But apart from the daunting >task one would face when trying to educate a clue-less moron like Yaya, >people like Jatta are too scared to think straight. These people have no >professional integrity. The civil servants at Central Bank and Finance know >that what is going on is not right. But you will not hear a single dissent >from these puppets. But they should realize that we are not sleeping. When >we get rid of Yaya, they will all account for their actions. Jatta will be >asked to swallow every false promise he gave to the Gambian people. Central >Bank officials with half a million dalasis loans used to build mansions >next >to huts in Kololi and Kotu will be asked to justify why poor farmers live >in >huts as their next door neighbors while they use tax payers' money (not >their salaries) to build mansions. Ebrima. I thank you again for forwarding >this material. Watch this space after I digest Jatta's report. >KB > > >>From: Ebrima Ceesay <[log in to unmask]> >>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list >><[log in to unmask]> >>To: [log in to unmask] >>Subject: Read the Budget Speech 2001 >>Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2001 20:31:32 -0000 >> > >_________________________________________________________________ >Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------