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Saturday, December 7, 2024
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Banjul North NAM says reliance on grants and loans dangerous for a nation

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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