- The Gambia's Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Mousa Bala Gaye, has presented the 2007 budget estimates before deputies in parliament.
The budget was a total departure from the expectation of poverty-ridden Gambians who have been yearning for price hikes of basic commodities to come to an end. The 2007 budget, which will get the approval of the rubberstamping parliament, purely models a tax-based economy in 2007.
Minister Gaye pegged the total estimated revenue at dalasi 3,342,670,000 (euro 91 million) while total expenditure and net lending amounted to dalasi 4,408,343,000 (euro 120 million) thus leaving a deficit of over a billion dalasis (euro 28 million).
According to the Gambian Finance Minister, more than 90 percent of the total estimated revenue would be derived from taxes, implying that the Banjul government is set to increase tax on services and goods in the country.
This equally means prices of goods and services could skyrocket, which adds salt to poverty, whose ratio currently stands at over 69 percents.
The extension of the government's fiscal basis is one of the main advices given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to poor nations as The Gambia. The IMF holds that government need to secure their own revenue basis - mainly by collecting taxes - to be able to implement policies that later on could reduce the poverty they first produce.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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