“We are already in over 100 billion dalasis in loans, and to pay that we are using 11 billion dalasis for the debt services,” he said at a press conference yesterday.
“And I'm sure, we all will agree if that 11 billion dalasis is injected in agriculture, it will really do well for this country, economically and our social security,” he said.
“My calculation with the over D100 billion, plus the debt services, I have absolutely no doubt that if there is proper auditing of the activities and transactions carried by this government, we'll find that there are several other loans that have not been disclosed to the people of this country.
“They are sitting on them because they do not want to expose how much damage they have done to this country.”
He stated that since the change of government, some areas of government activities were audited, and it was discovered that several billions in different currencies were hidden.
“It was not mentioned in the budget speech, and I believe the budget speech should carry everything that affects the economy of our country. Certainly, these billion dalasis loan will drastically affect the economy of this country because it's going to add up to our national debt, and it's also going to increase our debt service portfolio. So, this should be made known to Gambians.”
“The country is so much in debt and we are still focused on acquiring more loans. We continue to rely on loans and grants instead of focusing on investing in our agriculture.
“We should consider on how to pay the outstanding debt the country currently owes rather than focusing on acquiring more loans.”
He also frowns against the Gambia Ports Authority agreement, saying it’s being handed to the foreign companies to manage.
“Our port is given away for 30 years, and we only benefit 20%, and the rest 80% goes to the partner. This to me is equivalent to selling it.”
Read Other Articles In Headlines
Barrow’s Chief of Staff rebuts US$300M electricity payment claim to SENELEC
Apr 5, 2023, 11:27 AM
