By Binta Jaiteh
Honourable Seedy Keita, the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs has disclosed that the Total Revenue and Grants for 2023 are projected to reach D31.48 billion, which represents a growth of 18.42% over the 2022 figure of D26.59 billion.
He revealed this statement at the National Assembly during the laying of the Draft 2023 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure in Banjul.
According to him, the increment is mainly attributed to an estimated increase in tax revenue, budget support Grants, and Non-Tax Revenue. He added that project Grants are projected to reach D11.83 billion compared to D9.66 billion in 2022, whereas Non-Tax Revenue is projected at D2.97 billion compared to D2.20 billion in 2022.
He said the Total Tax Revenue is also projected to marginally increase by 1.5 percent to D13.92 billion, compared to D13.66 billion in 2022. The 2023 budget will factor Budget Support to the tune of D2.77 billion from our developing partners, compared to D1.07 billion in 2022.
“The bulk of the budget support is expected to come from the World Bank (US$20 million), the European Union (US$13 million), AFD (US$2million), and the African Development Bank (US$7 million). Furthermore, total Expenditure and Net-lending are projected to increase by 13.5 percent, rising from D31.18 billion in 2022 to D35.41 billion in 2023. This increase is mainly driven by increases in Other.
Expenditures are projected to increase by D3.77 billion in 2023 (or 13% growth). Personnel Emolument expenditures, which are part of Other Expenditures, are projected to increase from D5.75 billion in 2022 to D6.14 billion in 2023. This increase is a result of the assumption of the payment of hardship allowances for teachers in Lower Basic Schools (previously paid by the World Bank), payment of Allowances to Election Officers for the upcoming local government elections, Personnel Costs for the National Assembly, as well as yearly increments based on promotions.
However, Other Current (OC) Expenditure is projected to increase to D13.27 billion in 2023, representing a 25 percent increase in comparison to 2022. This increase is mainly stimulated by projected expenditures on Subventions for the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the health sector. Capital expenditure is expected to increase slightly by 6 percent to D12.70 billion in 2023, mainly as a result of the suppression of expenditure on road projects in 2022” he noted
In his concluding remarks, he reflected on the fact that crafting this 2023 Budget is being done under very unusual and difficult social and economic circumstances. “Premised on our current challenges, we can expect 2023 to require further fiscal discipline. However, 2023 also provides opportunities for innovation in all aspects of our national economy and for leveraging the potential of digitalization to transform our businesses and restructure sectors to make them more resilient. Our intention now is to place our energies in the pursuit of local solutions to our economic challenges, achieve greater value addition, establish sustainable domestic value chains and diversify the local production base and expand our nascent export base.
“The fiscal year 2023 promises to be transformational as the global economic outlook is increasingly uncertain. It will be challenging and despite the gloomy clouds associated with the Russia-Ukraine war, our 2023 national budget can place us on the path to becoming a highly resilient and productive economy. To this end and in pursuance of this noble national development agenda I, therefore, submit the Estimates of Revenues, Recurrent, and Development Expenditures for the fiscal year 2023 for consideration and approval by the National Assembly. He explained