Every year the Gambia Revenue Authority hosts an awards ceremony for Taxpayers and this year featured a speech from President Adama Barrow. Below are some excerpts from the President’s speech which highlight some of the key economic indicators such as revenue growth, government subsidies in 2022 and the country’s economic growth projections.
“The Government has been a great benefactor of the private sector, but it also benefits a great deal from the sector’s successes. Their contribution to the country’s tax revenue base, for example, is enormous. Accordingly, our potential to locally fund national development programmes largely depends on this revenue base. The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) is, therefore, one of the major avenues of raising funds for national projects.”
“Since my administration came into office in 2017, GRA’s total revenue receipt grew significantly from about D8 billion to almost D12.8 billion in 2022, representing more than sixty (60) per cent increase. In the same period, average monthly revenue collection also grew significantly from D664 million in 2017 to D1.06 billion in 2022.”
“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 as fuel subsidy. Although it provided the 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.”
“The economic outlook for low-income countries, among which is The Gambia, is promising this year. It is projected that economic growth will rise marginally from 4.8 per cent in 2022 to 4.9 per cent, and we are hopeful that this will be a year of relief from the fiscal challenges of last year.”
“Despite the global economic challenges in 2022, domestic revenue surpassed international trade receipts for the first time since the creation of GRA. Domestic revenue contributed 51.2 per cent of GRA collection in 2022.”
