By Arret Jatta
The National Assembly member for Banjul North Momodou Lamin Bah has said the country’s reliance on loans and grants to cover 29% of the budget is dangerous.
“As I scrutinise this budget, I can see that the Government Local Fund for 2025 is about D37.8 billion. This is what government can contribute to finance its budget of 52 billion. To me, this is a serious concern because this is just 71% of the entire budget. So according to the budget the remaining 29%, can only come through grants and loans. This is very dangerous for our country because what if they don’t even come,” he said, during the debate on the budget yesterday.
Hon. Bah added that the budget allocated to Agriculture is insufficient compared to what is allocated to the Ministry Finance.
“It is like we are not ready as a country to become self- sufficien in food,” he warned.
Bah also lamented the slow pace of the nutrition bill in the Assembly.
“Time without numbers, we come here and talk about the importance of nutrition in this country but we are seeing that there is no commitment from government,” he said.
