#Headlines

Gambia’s  domestic debt stock increases to D37.32B

Nov 29, 2021, 1:25 PM | Article By: Pa Modou Cham

According to the Central Bank governor Mr. Buah Saidy, the total outstanding domestic debt stock rose by D2.77 billion to D37.32 billion in the year to end-October 2021, compared to D34.55 billion in the corresponding period in 2020.

Governor Saidy was speaking at a press conference help on Thursday at the Central Bank premises in Banjul.

“The modest growth in the debt stock was driven partly by widened fiscal deficit financed through bond issuances as well as the government’s ongoing debt management strategy of re-profiling the debt stock to create fiscal space.”

He added that significant progress has been realised in terms of re-profiling the debt stock as evident that; at end-October 2021, the short-term, medium-term, and long-term debt securities accounted for 52.6%, 23.3%, and 24.1% of the outstanding domestic debt relative to 59.3%, 13.6%, and 27.0% irrespectively in the same period last year. 

Governor Saidy further stated that the security yields in the domestic money market continued to trend downwards. He said the yields on the 91-day and 364-day Treasury bills declined to 0.99% and 3.25% in October 2021 from 1.05% and 4.00% respectively in October 2020, whilst the yield on the 182-day Treasury bill increased to 2.07% in October 2021 from 1.51% in October 2020.

“The 3-year bond yield also dropped from 10.28% in July 2020 to 8.94% in June 2021 likewise the 5-years bond declined from 10.0% in October 2020 to 6.0% in October 2021.”