The Gambia has received a total of 30 million euros as grant from the European Union to help in the financing the country’s deficit budget.
The
grant agreement was signed by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of
The Gambia and the European Commission on 13 July 2017.
According
to a statement from the Ministry of Finance, out of the total grant, 25 million
euros for budget support, and the remaining 5 million euros is a complementary
support.
Below
we publish the full statement, verbatim.
PRESS
RELEASE
The
Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Republic of The Gambia signed a
grant financing agreement with European Commission (EC) on the 13th July
2017. The total financing of this
project is EUR30,000,000 (thirty million euros), the budget support action is
composed of a budget support component with a maximum EU contribution of
EUR25,000,000 (Twenty-five million euros) and a complementary support component
with a total estimated cost of EUR5,000,000 (five million euros).
This
State Building Contract (SBC) budget support programme will contribute to
sustainable and inclusive growth and to the improvement of political and
economic governance in The Gambia. The
new government is turning to international donor to support the intended
democratic reforms, to ensuring essential functions of the state and to
re-launching socio-economic developments.
Among the challenges ahead, the new authorities will face extreme high
expectations of the population, as well as the need to urgently redress the
economy and guarantee financial/budgetary stabilisation, despite the difficult
political and economic legacy of the former president.
The
recent change of leadership ending 22 years of dictatorship provides a historic
opportunity, which the new government is determined to seize in order to a
create a ‘New Gambia’, based on the democratic institutions, separate powers,
the rule of laws and respect for human rights.
It is in the interest of the European Union (EU) to support this change
with all the available means and avoid any slipping back. The SBC will support the democratic
transition of The Gambia by giving fiscal space in the fiscal year 2017 at a
very clear stage of appointment of the government and election of a new
parliament. The duration of the SBC will
be one year for the budget support component and three years for the technical
assistance part.
This
programme is relevant for the United Nations 2030 Agency for Sustainable
Development. It contributes primarily to
the progressive achievement of SDG 1 ‘No poverty’ but also promotes progress
towards SDG 8 ‘Decent work and economic growth’ and SDG 16 ‘Peace justice and
strong institutions’.
