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toubab1020
12309 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Oct 2011 : 00:31:55
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Mambury Njie has obviously got a first class degree in gobbledegook,what on earth is all this padded fluff meant to mean? I for one have no idea,its a brilliant speech no doubt.
The minister can take heart though he is not alone,no government minister from any country in the world has any idea whatever how to solve this financial world crisis,so they all are forced to spout lots and lots of words,the meaning of which could be anything.
http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/finance-minister-advises-countries-to-avert-the-dark-days-ahead
Finance minister advises countries to avert the ‘dark days ahead’
Africa » Gambia
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
The Gambia minister of Finance and Economic Affairs has advised countries of the rich North to embark on the reforms needed to avert a global economic downturn or, as he puts it, “dark days ahead”.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs (MoFEA), Mambury Njie made this call at a press conference on the state of the World Economy during the just concluded World Bank-IMF annual meeting in Washington DC.
Flanked on the high table by Hon. Mustafa Mkulo, Finance Minister of Tanzania, Mrs Christina, Finance Minister of Cape-Verde and Mr Ponyo, the Finance Minister of DR Congo, he said that in sub-Saharan Africa, policy is focused on rebuilding policy buffers, strengthening financial institutions, fostering inclusive growth, and strengthening social safety nets.
He added that all has been done with a view to maintaining medium-term fiscal sustainability, thus showing the enormity of the task at hand. Minister Njie also told the press that the global economy is at a crossroads, noting that this year's Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank are taking place against the backdrop of a significant risk for the global economy.
He said: “Global economic activities have slowed down and have become more even with downsize risk growing. Strong performance in the emerging economies and developing economies is offset by higher-than-expected weaknesses in the advanced countries and debt concerns in the United States and Europe.
Fears of debt default in Greece and contagion to the rest of Europe and lack of political agreement in the United States on a medium-term fiscal consolidation framework have added to negative market sentiment. Now more than ever, political institutions in the advanced economies need to rise to the current economic challenges and take the urgent action necessary to address weaknesses in public, bank, and household balance sheets in order to restore confidence and prevent a global recession.”
For the African continent, he said economic performance during the pre-crisis decade was strong due to actions taken by Africans to adopt good economic policies, build macroeconomic policy buffers, implement far-reaching structural reforms, improve economic governance, and end political conflicts. “These pre-crisis buffers enabled the continent to withstand the effects of the 2008-2009 crisis. However, we are not yet out of the woods.
Recent developments in the global economy pose downside risks to Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly heightened pressures on the balance of payments, reduced export demands, and decline in government revenue, with serious implications for ongoing investments in agriculture, investments in employment, and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
This is exacerbated by high food and energy prices. The risks are even greater this time around, as we have already used a large part of our macroeconomic policy buffers, i.e., fiscal space, external reserves, to mitigate the impact of the crisis. Given this limited policy space, the international community must [act] to provide additional concessional refinancing and policy advice to the innocent bystanders impacted by the crisis,” he added.
Gambia’s stance
According to Minister Njie, it is in this context that the government of The Gambia continues to do all it can to protect its people from the impact of the crisis. He said economic growth is strong, 5.5 percent in 2011 with inflation relatively low at 4 percent, external reserves stand at 5.1 months of imports, and the country has made strong progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
“We plan to further progress by implementing our programme on accelerated growth and employment, which aims at scaling up resources for infrastructure investment to increase economic growth, job creation, and meeting of the Millennium Development Goals.
We are putting agriculture and food security first. These are priorities given the recent increases in food prices. Accordingly, The Gambia National Agriculture Investment Programme was launched with the objective of achieving increased contributions to agriculture and GDP whilst ensuring food security through the targeting of investments in land preparation, irrigation, and provision of agricultural imports.
In ensuring attainment of these targets, budgetary allocation to these sectors has been doubled and will continue to be increased toward the attainment of the 2003 Maputo Declaration target,” he concluded.
Author: Daily Observer
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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