By Kebba AF Touray
The Gambia’s total government expenditure for the first quarter of 2025 stood at Eight Billion One Hundred and Thirty Million Dalasi (GMD 8.130 billion), according to Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Seedy Keita. The figure represents a 3 percent decrease compared to the quarterly budget estimate of GMD 8.352 billion, a drop attributed to lower-than-expected interest payments and rationalized spending on goods and services.
Minister Keita made the disclosure on Monday, 16th June 2025, while presenting his ministerial statement on the monitoring and implementation of the annual budget before the National Assembly. He explained that the first quarter expenditure reflects a 25 percent execution rate of the approved 2025 budget.
A breakdown of the figures shows that Subsidies and Transfers accounted for a significant portion, totaling GMD 2.042 billion, which is 9 percent higher than the budgeted GMD 1.867 billion. He attributed this mainly to an increase in the wage bill of subvented institutions and an input subsidy of GMD 580.95 million.
In terms of Goods and Services, the government spent GMD 1.032 billion, which is 18 percent below its first quarter allocation. Likewise, Capital expenditure from the Government Local Fund (GLF) stood at GMD 1.147 billion, also 18 percent below its quarterly budget of GMD 1.26 billion.
Personnel emoluments reached GMD 2.337 billion, exceeding the budgeted GMD 2.188 billion by 7 percent, which Minister Keita said was due to a higher-than-anticipated wage bill.
The actual Gross Deficit was GMD 1.45 billion, falling 23 percent below the projected GMD 1.88 billion. Minister Keita noted that no budget support was expected or received during the period, and that the deficit is expected to normalize with the receipt of external assistance.
Meanwhile, actual current expenditure totaled GMD 6.982 billion, representing 25 percent of the approved GMD 28.275 billion annual current expenditure budget. This figure marks an increase of GMD 808.353 million, or 13 percent, compared to the same period in 2024. The increase is largely driven by a 32 percent execution rate in subsidies and transfers, and a 29 percent execution rate in domestic interest payments.
Capital expenditure, at GMD 1.148 billion, represents 30 percent of the approved GMD 3.777 billion annual capital budget. Compared to the first quarter of 2024, this reflects an increase of GMD 93.016 million or 9 percent.
On the revenue side, Minister Keita reported that actual total revenue for the quarter was GMD 6.674 billion, exceeding the GMD 6.466 billion target by 3 percent. The increase was driven primarily by tax revenue, which stood at GMD 6.16 billion, a 10 percent rise over the GMD 5.62 billion quarterly forecast. However, non-tax revenue underperformed by 40 percent, negatively impacting the overall revenue performance.
In conclusion, while revenue collection exceeded targets and overall expenditure was slightly below budget, the government faced rising pressure from personnel costs and subsidy obligations, underscoring the need for sustained fiscal discipline and efficient public spending.
