The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs (MOFEA) Hon. Seedy Keita has recognized the roles of the National Assembly Members in national development. He cited that the roles of NAMs in resource mobilization and public expenditure have become more critical since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He made this remark while presiding over the official opening of a two-day GRA-UN-WATAF meeting on the roles of parliamentarians in domestic revenue mobilization held recently.
The finance minister stated that the National Assembly, being an arm of government, is key in realizing our domestic revenue mobilization drive and in translating our fiscal policies and objectives into legislation. In fact, this roundtable is coming at the right time as I will be tabling the 2023 Appropriation Bill. “Dubbed the Budget Speech before parliament in a few weeks for debate and enactment. I hope this forum will pave the way for a smooth deliberation of the government fiscal objective for 2023 without rancor and prolongation.
The finance minister has disclosed that currently, economies around the world are battling high inflation as a result of the Russia- –Ukraine war and this has resulted in the high cost of living. He said that based on this, governments around the world are left with no choice” but to provide unsustainable subsidies to stabilize the price,” the Finance Minister stated.
However, According to Hon. Keita “Gambia is grappling” with this conundrum as the government has spent about D1.5Billion on fuel subsidies since January 2022.
According to the finance minister, the meeting comes at a time when international trade receipts are dwindling as a result of a host of factors outside of our control.
The mantra, therefore, for developing countries, is to focus on domestic revenue mobilization.
He cited that the Ministry of Finance and GRA are implementing a host of policies and programs aimed at changing the dynamics and this is yielding dividends as domestic revenue receipts have overtaken international trade receipts since the third quarter of 2021 and this trend has continued in 2022 and we hope that domestic revenue receipts will continue to grow.
The National Assembly can play a prominent role in our drive to expand the tax base, and narrow the tax gap with a view to enhancing our domestic revenue mobilization drive. This is a clarion call for all of us and “I am pleased that the Gambia Revenue Authority has recognized your role in this endeavor.
“I wish to commend WATAF and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs for partnering with the Gambia Revenue Authority in this initiative and for having the foresight in organizing this roundtable discussion. This is indeed a laudable move.
The pandemic which almost cripple the global economy significantly affected government revenue. The travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic brought our tourism sector to a standstill and this in turn affected the capacity of the government to fund critical sectors of the economy.