Jan to May 2024: Gov’t Overspent by 3% and Collected 13.8% Under Revenue Target

Revenue Targets, GLF Targets and Differences are calculated by Askanwi Media

By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT

The Gambia’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) has failed to provide an update to the National Assembly on the Government’s Budget Implementation since the Second Parliamentary Session of 2024 and has also failed to provide an update so far in the Third Session of 2024.

In addition to this, the MoFEA new website which has been relocated from mofea.gm to mofea.gov.gm only provides a Performance Budget update covering the months of January to May 2024. Had the Finance Minister provided an update to Parliament as expected and updated their website with a monthly update by now information covering January to August should have been publicly available.

In the absence of up to date data, the January to May 2024 Budget Performance Report will have to suffice for this 2024 Budget Implementation Report.

According to the 2024 Approved Budget the Government approved a total revenue collection of over D25 Billion. If this amount is pro-rata on a monthly basis, the government should have collected close to D11 Billion in the first five months. However, only D9.3 Billion has been collected in the same period meaning that the Government collected approximately 13.8% less in revenue than it should have collected in the same period.

Looking at government spending according to the Government Local Fund (GLF) which excludes loans and grants, the Government planned to spend just over D11 Billion, however, the Government has only overspent by 3% which translates to an overspend of D326 million.

In conclusion, the Jan – May 2024 Performance Budget Report indicates that the government is more on track with spending in the first five months of the year 2024 than it is with revenue collection. The government should have collected an additional D1.4 Billion in the first five months of 2024. This highlights that more effort is needed to boost revenue collection that will not hamper local businesses and the public and that the government still needs to improve with spending.

Revenue Targets, GLF Targets and Differences are calculated by Askanwi Media

Blue shaded sections are calculated by Askanwi Media

The top Spending Budget Entities from January to May 2024 are listed below.