The private sector, which the government claims is the engine of growth, accounts for just 27.6 percent of domestic credit. Hence credit to the private sector to engage in production is declining in the face of interest rates which increased to 27 percent. The Gambia is not growing to be an economic super power. In fact, many families depend on remittances which have increased to 56.4 Million Dollars or 2 Billion Dalasis in 2016. Food inflation has increased to 8.4 percent. Cost of living is beyond the earning capacity of most Gambians. The Gross international reserves declined from almost 5 months of imports at end-2013 to 3.7 months at end-2014. The IMF claims that the public debt has risen to 100 percent of GDP as at end-2014. As of June 2015, the domestic debt is put at 19.1 Billion Dalasis. It is very evident that the Gambia is not about to graduate from the class of heavily indebted poor countries, to the contrary, it is sinking deeper into the abyss of indebtedness.]]>
