The message from the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of The Gambia is that economic activity in The Gambia will remain strong, specifically that real Gross Domestic Growth is projected to remain strong, in 2010
This is good news in the monthly press release issued by the CBG, and comes at a time when every country in the world is doing everything in its power to recover from the adverse effects of the global financial and economic crises.
Another very important piece of information, which provides proof of good national economic health, is the fact that, "as at end-January 2010, gross international reserves totalled US$183.3 million, equivalent to 7.2 months of import cover."
The "expected partial recovery in tourism and remittances, and robust growth in agriculture," which three pillars have become the vital props on which our economy now rests, is another good development worth noting.
Today, tourism contributes around 16 percent to GDP and, in recent years, remittances have been budgeted to bring in over D1 billion or around a third to a quarter of budgeted revenue.
Agriculture continues to remain the backbone of our economy, providing employment for more than 60 per cent of the work force.
The MPC also revealed that, according to the forward-looking business sentiment survey, respondents indicated that, concerning economic and business activity, prospects for the first quarter of 2010 are favourable.
However, the majority of the respondents expect the rate of inflation to be higher in the first quarter of 2010.
"Risks to the outlook are the steady rise in global energy and food prices," the release declared.
Thus, in welcoming this positive news about the state of health of the national economy, we need to remain vigilant, since the MPC in its press release also made it clear that "commodity prices continue to increase."
"What gets measured gets managed"
Annonymous
