Speaking during the taxpayers’ awards ceremony held on Saturday at the Kairaba Beach Hotel, President Barrow added that in the same period, average monthly revenue collection also grew significantly from D664 million in 2017 to D1.06 billion in 2022.
“The growth in tax revenue is the result of a sound government policy to expand the country’s tax base and tighten the loopholes in our national tax collection system. At the centre of my government’s fiscal policy is the conviction that our economic prosperity as a country should hinge on expanding the tax base and leveraging technology, rather than interfering with the tax codes.”
He added that the policy position aims to improve the fiscal space and enhance trade facilitation for the private sector to succeed.
The head of state commended development partners, who he said have continually provided tremendous support to the Gambian people in the form of grants and other types of assistance.
He said The Gambia needs to shift from depending heavily on foreign aid to relying more on domestic revenue mobilisation.
This, he added, has become even more necessary in view of the fact that the Gambia’s economy is prone to external shocks.
“In 2022, my government was left with no option but to intervene using both fiscal and monetary tools to ease the cost burden on the public. For this purpose, we spent over D1.6 billion on fuel subsidies. Although it provided much-needed relief for the Gambian people, over D1.6 billion of tax revenue was forgone by Government to make fuel internally affordable during the crisis. The money could have been spent on development projects,” President Barrow succinctly recounted.
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