I must first of all say how wonderful it is to be back in the Gambia and back on the L. Having said that, I would like to present some statistics about the Gambian economy with the hope that those with economic background will give us an indication of their interpretation of these figures and what our prospects for 2002 might be. With the rainy season all but over, this year's crop yields are generally expected to improve over last year's. Since my arrival, just over a week ago, there had been two unexpected rains and many have expressed the view that such rains be very prove devastating for our rural folks whose groundnuts are laid to dry. There are indications also that this year's tourism arrivals would be much better than that of last year despite the devastating effects that the attacks of the September 11 has on air travel in general. Culled from the Daily Observer. Gambia Experience to bring in 21,000 tourists this year (By Philip Mendy). The manager of the Gambia Experience resort, Joyse Stavroulakis, has revealed that her organisation is expected to bring over 21,000 tourists to the Gambia this winter season. Mrs. Stavroulakis made this revelation on Friday, November 2, 2001 at the Banjul International airport during the arrival of an additional friday flight service from London, Gatwick and the weekly Friday Manchester flight. She said her company was offering holiday makers and business travelers for the first time ever, a regional flight service from Bristol to Banjul. Mrs Stavroulakis further revealed that the four flights that arrived on Friday brought over 1,000 tourists for what she described as a bumber winter season. "We are now in our fifteenth year, bringing tourists to The Gambia and we are extremely proud of the service we can provide the Uk market. we are confident that it is going to be a great winter tourist season. This year's programme has improved 40% compared to last year's". Asked whether the September 11 terrorist attack on the US would have any negative impact on the tourist season this year, she responded in the negative, saying "there is no problem in The Gambia except, may be some tourist will not like to stay away from their families". In another development, the economy is, in general expected to improve further despite the high cost of petroleum products and the recent pressure on the Dalasi. Below is a summary outlining the economy of The Gambia as compiled and produced by the IMF in collaboration with The government of The Gambia which Gamnomics (of the Daily Observer) culled from West Africa Magazine. The Gambia: Selected Economic and Financial indicators, 1995/96 - 2001. 1995/96 1996/97 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 est. Proj'n Proj'n (Annual percentage changes) Domestic economy Real GDP 5.3 0.8 4.9 3.5 6.4 5.6 5.7 Normal GDP 8.8 5.3 7.7 6.1 11.0 9.5 10.0 GDP deflator 3.3 4.5 2.6 2.1 4.4 3.8 4.0 CPI 4.8 2.1 2.8 1.1 3.8 0.9 4.0 (Period average) G'nut prod'n 75.2 45.8 78.1 73.5 123.0 138.0 149.0 ('000 metric tonnes) (In per cent of GDP) 1995/96 '96/97 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 est. Proj'n Proj'n G. fixed Investm' 23.4 19.3 17.2 18.4 17.8 17.3 17.9 Government 12.9 12.7 8.4 5.9 5.3 4.6 4.9 Private 10.5 6.6 8.8 12.5 12.5 12.7 13.0 Gross Doms. sav'gs 2.9 6.0 7.1 7.5 7.9 4.9 5.6 Gross Nat. sav'gs 10.0 12.6 13.5 15.3 13.5 12.7 15.3 Governments 8.0 8.2 8.4 9.3 7.1 7.6 9.5 Private 2.0 4.4 5.1 6.1 6.4 5.1 5.8 Source: The Gambian authorities and IMF staff estimates and projections. Have a good day, Gassa. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>