Relations with the Fund

(As of Jan 31, 2018)

Membership status. Joined September 21, 1967. The Gambia accepted the obligations under Article VIII, Sections 2(a), 3, and 4, of the Fund’s Articles of Agreements on January 21, 1993. It maintains an exchange system that is free of restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions.

General Resources Account	SDR Million	% Quota
Quota	62.20	100.00
Fund holdings of currency	52.91	85.06
Reserve Tranche Position	9.35	15.03
SDR Department	SDR Million	% Allocation
Net cumulative allocation	29.77	100.00
Holdings	1.07	3.06
Outstanding Purchases and Loans	SDR Million	% Quota
RCF Loans	19.44	31.25
ECF arrangements	16.76	26.89

View Table

General Resources Account	SDR Million	% Quota
Quota	62.20	100.00
Fund holdings of currency	52.91	85.06
Reserve Tranche Position	9.35	15.03
SDR Department	SDR Million	% Allocation
Net cumulative allocation	29.77	100.00
Holdings	1.07	3.06
Outstanding Purchases and Loans	SDR Million	% Quota
RCF Loans	19.44	31.25
ECF arrangements	16.76	26.89

Latest Financial Arrangements

			Amount	Amount
		Expiration	Approved	Drawn
Type	Date of Arrangement	Date	(SDR Million)	(SDR Million)
ECF	May 25, 2012	May 20, 2015	18.66	10.89
ECF	Feb. 21, 2007	Mar. 31, 2011	24.88	22.55
ECF	Jul. 18, 2002	Jul. 17, 2005	20.22	2.89

View Table

			Amount	Amount
		Expiration	Approved	Drawn
Type	Date of Arrangement	Date	(SDR Million)	(SDR Million)
ECF	May 25, 2012	May 20, 2015	18.66	10.89
ECF	Feb. 21, 2007	Mar. 31, 2011	24.88	22.55
ECF	Jul. 18, 2002	Jul. 17, 2005	20.22	2.89

Projected Payments to Fund (SDR million; based on current use of resources and present holdings of SDRs)¹

¹ When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.

	Forthcoming
	2018	2019	20120	2021	2022
Principal	5.10	4.58	3.62	3.97	2.80
Charges/interest	0.22	0.22	0.22	0.22	0.22
Total	5.31	4.79	3.84	4.18	3.02

¹ When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.

View Table

	Forthcoming
	2018	2019	20120	2021	2022
Principal	5.10	4.58	3.62	3.97	2.80
Charges/interest	0.22	0.22	0.22	0.22	0.22
Total	5.31	4.79	3.84	4.18	3.02

¹ When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.

Implementation of HIPC Initiative

						Enhanced Framework
	I.			Commitment of HIPC assistance
		Decision point date1				Dec 2000
		Assistance committed (year-end 2000 NPV terms)2
					Total assistance (US$ million)	66.60
					Of which: IMF assistance (US$ million)	2.30
					SDR equivalent, million	1.80
		Completion point date				Dec 2007
II.			Disbursement of IMF assistance (SDR million)
		Assistance disbursed to the member				1.80
					Interim assistance	0.44
					Completion point balance	1.36
		Additional disbursement of interest income3				0.49
		Total disbursement				2.29
Implementation of Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI)
	MDRI-eligible debt (SDR million)4					9.42
			Financed by: MDRI Trust			7.44
			Remaining HIPC resources			1.98

View Table

						Enhanced Framework
	I.			Commitment of HIPC assistance
		Decision point date1				Dec 2000
		Assistance committed (year-end 2000 NPV terms)2
					Total assistance (US$ million)	66.60
					Of which: IMF assistance (US$ million)	2.30
					SDR equivalent, million	1.80
		Completion point date				Dec 2007
II.			Disbursement of IMF assistance (SDR million)
		Assistance disbursed to the member				1.80
					Interim assistance	0.44
					Completion point balance	1.36
		Additional disbursement of interest income3				0.49
		Total disbursement				2.29
Implementation of Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI)
	MDRI-eligible debt (SDR million)4					9.42
			Financed by: MDRI Trust			7.44
			Remaining HIPC resources			1.98

Debt Relief by Facility (SDR million)

	Eligible Debt
Delivery Date	GRA	PRGT	Total
December 2007	N/A	9.42	9.42

View Table

	Eligible Debt
Delivery Date	GRA	PRGT	Total
December 2007	N/A	9.42	9.42

Safeguards assessments

An update of the 2012 safeguards assessment of the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG), completed on January 24, 2018 found that safeguards risks at the CBG have increased in recent years. The CBG faces significant capacity challenges in many areas that impact its internal control environment, including internal audit and the quality of financial reporting. In addition, excessive lending to government, in contravention of the CBG Act, compromises the bank’s autonomy, and the external audit arrangements fall short of leading practices. Recommendations included: (i) amending the CBG Act to align it with leading practices for central banks; (ii) conducting the CBG audit by a local auditor and a large international audit firm with central banking experience; (iii) revising the procedures for opening and closing accounts to ensure that all required information is provided, and that transactions are properly authorized, and (iv) developing a capacity building plan. The authorities are committed to implement these recommendations.

Exchange rate arrangement

Until January 20, 1986, the Gambian currency, the dalasi, was pegged to the pound sterling at a rate of D5 = £1. On January 20, 1986, an interbank market for foreign exchange was introduced, and since then the exchange rate has been determined by market forces. Effective February 2, 2009, the classification of the de facto exchange rate arrangement has been changed from managed floating with no predetermined path for the exchange rate to floating, retroactively to April 30, 2008, due to the revision of the classification methodology. The Gambia has accepted the obligations of Article VIII, Sections 2(a), 3 and 4 and maintains an exchange system free of restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions, except for restrictions maintained solely for the preservation of national or international security, which have been notified to the Fund in accordance with the procedures set forth in Executive Board decision 144-(52/51). However, since end-2012, a series of presidential directives imposing fixed, overly appreciated exchange rates were issued during October 22-November 15, 2012; June 26-July 15, 2013; July 26-October 9, 2013 and more recently, on May 4 2015 to January 1, 2017. The 2012, 2013 and 2015 directives have all been rescinded.

Last Article IV consultation

The Executive Board concluded the 2015 Article IV consultation (SM/15/272) on September 18, 2015.

Technical assistance

The Fund has been providing The Gambia with extensive technical assistance in macroeconomic, fiscal, and monetary areas, and in improving the compilation of macroeconomic statistics. Specific technical assistance projects since 2008 are the following:

	Fiscal Affairs Department
Jan 2018	TA mission on cargo inspection procedures and mentoring support to the Post Clearance Audit (PCA) Unit, ARFITAC W2
Oct 2017	TA mission on the development of a national intelligence strategy and provision of mentoring support to the intelligence and investigation unit of the GRA, AFRITAC W2
September 2017	TA mission to undertake a fiscal stress test
Aug- Sept 2017	TA mission to the GRA for development a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and Risk Management Strategy, AFRITAC W2
August 2017	TA mission to GRA on delivery of an Induction Training Program for customs officers, ARFITAC W2
June 2017	TA mission on fiscal oversight of state-owned enterprises with AFRITAC W2
April/May 2017	TA mission to strengthen the monitoring and reporting of contingent liabilities and accounting practices on debt, contingent liabilities
July 2016	TA mission on revenue administration
February 2016	TA mission to strengthening Budget Formulation within a Medium-term Framework
April/May 2015	TA mission advised on tax expenditure budgeting and property tax evaluation.
April/May 2015	TA mission advised on the identification, management and clearance of expenditure arrears and cash management
August 2014	TA mission advised on revenue administration
February/March 2014	TA mission advised on the implementation of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and program based budgeting
February 2013	TA mission advised on tax policy reform options
January/February 2013	TA mission advised on reorganization of MOFEA to strengthen budget and MTEF reforms and fiscal reporting
June 2012 -	A resident advisor advised on PFM.
June 2012 -	A resident advisor advised on revenue administration.
April 2012 -	A resident advisor advised on VAT preparations and implementations.
February/March 2012	A couple of experts advised on PFM.
January/February 2012	An IMF regional advisor visited twice to provide TA on revenue administration and VAT preparations.
September 2011	A couple of experts advised on PFM (preparing a Budget Framework Paper) and on VAT preparations.
August 2011	Peripatetic expert advised on improving compliance and tax administration.
April/May 2011	TA mission advised on VAT preparations.
April 2011	TA mission reviewed the pricing formula for petroleum products.
February/March 2011	TA mission reviewed status of revenue administration reforms, including VAT implementation plans.
November/December 2010	Peripatetic expert advised on VAT preparations.
August 2010	Peripatetic expert advised on VAT preparations.
June 2010	TA mission on public financial management (PFM).
April/May 2010	TA mission advised on improvements in revenue administration and provided input into the design of tax reforms.
April 2009	TA mission advised on measures to reform the tax system.
July 2008	Peripatetic regional advisor followed up on the work of the August/September 2007 FAD mission.
	Monetary and Capital Markets Department
Feb 2018	TA mission on development of the payment systems and monetary policy analysis, AFRITAC W2
Dec 2017	TA mission on external sector statistics, ARFITAC W2
Nov 2017	TA mission on enhancing risk-based onsite supervision, ARFITAC W2
Oct 2017	Ongoing TA for FIRST Initiative Banking Supervision and Resolution
Aug 2017	TA mission on improving monetary policy analysis and monetary operations with AFRITAC W2
July 2017	TA mission to develop a medium-term debt strategy
May 2017	TA mission on enhancing risk-based onsite supervision with AFRITAC W2
April 2017	TA mission assessing the establishment of deposit insurance
April 2017	TA mission on introducing Basel II with AFRITAC W2
March 2017	TA mission on improving monetary analysis and monetary operations with AFRITAC W2
April 2017	TA mission to improve monetary policy analysis and monetary operations
Sept 2016	TA mission to enhancing risk based onsite supervision
Aug 2016	TA mission to improve monetary analysis and review of monetary policy toolkit
June 2016	Implementation of Liquidity Forecasting and Liquidity Management
Jun 2016	Regional Workshop on Basel Core Principles
Jan 2016	Enhancing Risk-Based Onsite Supervision
Sept 2015	TA mission on International Financial Reporting Standards Principles Part II
Jul 2015	TA mission on introducing International Financial Reporting Standards Principles
Jul 2015	TA mission to assess the Basel Core Principles
June 2015	TA mission on liquidity forecasting and management
May 2015	TA mission on banking supervision (offsite supervision framework)
February 2015	TA mission on banking supervision (stress testing)
March 2014	TA mission on banking supervision (manual of guidelines for regulatory returns)
March 2014	TA mission advised on monetary operations and liquidity management
April/May 2013	TA mission on banking supervision.
September/October 2012	Technical expert advised on monetary operations and liquidity forecasting.
January 2012	Technical expert advised the CBG on amending its Manual of Guidelines and Instructions to strengthen bank supervision.
September 2011	TA mission conducted stress testing and helped built capacity in this area.
February/March 2011	TA mission conducted a diagnostic assessment of the banking system.
March/April 2010	Technical expert advised the CBG on banking supervision.
January 2010	Technical expert advised on monetary operations and liquidity forecasting.
January 2009	Technical expert advised the CBG on banking supervision.
	Statistics Department
Dec 2017	TA mission on the Balance of Payments and External Sector Statistics, AFRITAC W2
Sept 2017	Ongoing TA mission on the National Accounts with ARFITAC West 2.
Aug 2017	Ongoing TA support on Producer Price Index with ARFITAC West 2
June 2017	Ongoing TA mission on the National Accounts with ARFITAC West 2.
March 2017	Ongoing TA mission on the National Accounts with ARFITAC West 2.
March 2017	TA mission on the National Accounts.
Sept 2016	Ongoing TA support on National Accounts with ARFITAC West 2.
Oct 2015	Ongoing TA support on Producer Price Index with ARFITAC West 2
June/July 2015	Mission advised on the compilation of price statistics
May 2015	TA mission on the Balance of Payments and External Sector Statistics
February 2015	Mission advised on the compilation of financial soundness indicators for the banking sector.
February/March 2015	Mission advised on economic census, national accounts and quarterly national accounts.
January/ February 2015	DfID-funded TA mission advised on the compilation of mutually consistent BOP and IIP statements.
October 2014	Mission on advised on national accounts and economic census.
October/November 2013	Mission advised on the compilation of national accounts.
July/ August 2013	Mission advised the compilation of price statistics.
February/March 2013	DfID-funded TA mission advised the authorities on improving BOP statistics.
January/February 2012	Technical expert advised on improving the compilation of price statistics.
September 2011	DfID-funded TA mission advised the authorities on improving BOP statistics.
July 2011	DfID-funded short-term expert advised the authorities on improving national accounts statistics.
March/April 2011	DfID-funded TA mission advised the authorities on improving BOP statistics.
September 2010	DfID-funded short-term expert advised the authorities on improving national accounts statistics.
August/September 2010	DfID-funded TA mission advised the authorities on improving BOP and IIP statistics.
February 2010	TA mission advised on measures to improve monetary and financial statistics.
June 2008	Fourth visit of the DfID-funded TA mission assisted the authorities in improving the compilation of national accounts statistics, particularly in rebasing the GDP series and in calculating GDP by the expenditure approach, using the results from the 2004 Economic Census.
April/May 2008	Follow-up visit of a 2006 TA mission to assist the CBG in improving the compilation of monetary and financial statistics and in preparing the standardized report forms for reporting monetary data to the IMF.
March 2008	Third visit of the DfID-funded TA mission assisted the authorities in improving the compilation of national accounts statistics, particularly in rebasing the GDP series and in calculating GDP by the expenditure approach, using the results from the 2004 Economic Census.
	Others
March and October 2017	FIN safeguards monitoring missions.
February 2012	An LEG expert held a VAT workshop for stakeholders and helped finalize the new VAT law and related background materials.
December 2011	An LEG expert helped draft the new VAT law.

View Table

	Fiscal Affairs Department
Jan 2018	TA mission on cargo inspection procedures and mentoring support to the Post Clearance Audit (PCA) Unit, ARFITAC W2
Oct 2017	TA mission on the development of a national intelligence strategy and provision of mentoring support to the intelligence and investigation unit of the GRA, AFRITAC W2
September 2017	TA mission to undertake a fiscal stress test
Aug- Sept 2017	TA mission to the GRA for development a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and Risk Management Strategy, AFRITAC W2
August 2017	TA mission to GRA on delivery of an Induction Training Program for customs officers, ARFITAC W2
June 2017	TA mission on fiscal oversight of state-owned enterprises with AFRITAC W2
April/May 2017	TA mission to strengthen the monitoring and reporting of contingent liabilities and accounting practices on debt, contingent liabilities
July 2016	TA mission on revenue administration
February 2016	TA mission to strengthening Budget Formulation within a Medium-term Framework
April/May 2015	TA mission advised on tax expenditure budgeting and property tax evaluation.
April/May 2015	TA mission advised on the identification, management and clearance of expenditure arrears and cash management
August 2014	TA mission advised on revenue administration
February/March 2014	TA mission advised on the implementation of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and program based budgeting
February 2013	TA mission advised on tax policy reform options
January/February 2013	TA mission advised on reorganization of MOFEA to strengthen budget and MTEF reforms and fiscal reporting
June 2012 -	A resident advisor advised on PFM.
June 2012 -	A resident advisor advised on revenue administration.
April 2012 -	A resident advisor advised on VAT preparations and implementations.
February/March 2012	A couple of experts advised on PFM.
January/February 2012	An IMF regional advisor visited twice to provide TA on revenue administration and VAT preparations.
September 2011	A couple of experts advised on PFM (preparing a Budget Framework Paper) and on VAT preparations.
August 2011	Peripatetic expert advised on improving compliance and tax administration.
April/May 2011	TA mission advised on VAT preparations.
April 2011	TA mission reviewed the pricing formula for petroleum products.
February/March 2011	TA mission reviewed status of revenue administration reforms, including VAT implementation plans.
November/December 2010	Peripatetic expert advised on VAT preparations.
August 2010	Peripatetic expert advised on VAT preparations.
June 2010	TA mission on public financial management (PFM).
April/May 2010	TA mission advised on improvements in revenue administration and provided input into the design of tax reforms.
April 2009	TA mission advised on measures to reform the tax system.
July 2008	Peripatetic regional advisor followed up on the work of the August/September 2007 FAD mission.
	Monetary and Capital Markets Department
Feb 2018	TA mission on development of the payment systems and monetary policy analysis, AFRITAC W2
Dec 2017	TA mission on external sector statistics, ARFITAC W2
Nov 2017	TA mission on enhancing risk-based onsite supervision, ARFITAC W2
Oct 2017	Ongoing TA for FIRST Initiative Banking Supervision and Resolution
Aug 2017	TA mission on improving monetary policy analysis and monetary operations with AFRITAC W2
July 2017	TA mission to develop a medium-term debt strategy
May 2017	TA mission on enhancing risk-based onsite supervision with AFRITAC W2
April 2017	TA mission assessing the establishment of deposit insurance
April 2017	TA mission on introducing Basel II with AFRITAC W2
March 2017	TA mission on improving monetary analysis and monetary operations with AFRITAC W2
April 2017	TA mission to improve monetary policy analysis and monetary operations
Sept 2016	TA mission to enhancing risk based onsite supervision
Aug 2016	TA mission to improve monetary analysis and review of monetary policy toolkit
June 2016	Implementation of Liquidity Forecasting and Liquidity Management
Jun 2016	Regional Workshop on Basel Core Principles
Jan 2016	Enhancing Risk-Based Onsite Supervision
Sept 2015	TA mission on International Financial Reporting Standards Principles Part II
Jul 2015	TA mission on introducing International Financial Reporting Standards Principles
Jul 2015	TA mission to assess the Basel Core Principles
June 2015	TA mission on liquidity forecasting and management
May 2015	TA mission on banking supervision (offsite supervision framework)
February 2015	TA mission on banking supervision (stress testing)
March 2014	TA mission on banking supervision (manual of guidelines for regulatory returns)
March 2014	TA mission advised on monetary operations and liquidity management
April/May 2013	TA mission on banking supervision.
September/October 2012	Technical expert advised on monetary operations and liquidity forecasting.
January 2012	Technical expert advised the CBG on amending its Manual of Guidelines and Instructions to strengthen bank supervision.
September 2011	TA mission conducted stress testing and helped built capacity in this area.
February/March 2011	TA mission conducted a diagnostic assessment of the banking system.
March/April 2010	Technical expert advised the CBG on banking supervision.
January 2010	Technical expert advised on monetary operations and liquidity forecasting.
January 2009	Technical expert advised the CBG on banking supervision.
	Statistics Department
Dec 2017	TA mission on the Balance of Payments and External Sector Statistics, AFRITAC W2
Sept 2017	Ongoing TA mission on the National Accounts with ARFITAC West 2.
Aug 2017	Ongoing TA support on Producer Price Index with ARFITAC West 2
June 2017	Ongoing TA mission on the National Accounts with ARFITAC West 2.
March 2017	Ongoing TA mission on the National Accounts with ARFITAC West 2.
March 2017	TA mission on the National Accounts.
Sept 2016	Ongoing TA support on National Accounts with ARFITAC West 2.
Oct 2015	Ongoing TA support on Producer Price Index with ARFITAC West 2
June/July 2015	Mission advised on the compilation of price statistics
May 2015	TA mission on the Balance of Payments and External Sector Statistics
February 2015	Mission advised on the compilation of financial soundness indicators for the banking sector.
February/March 2015	Mission advised on economic census, national accounts and quarterly national accounts.
January/ February 2015	DfID-funded TA mission advised on the compilation of mutually consistent BOP and IIP statements.
October 2014	Mission on advised on national accounts and economic census.
October/November 2013	Mission advised on the compilation of national accounts.
July/ August 2013	Mission advised the compilation of price statistics.
February/March 2013	DfID-funded TA mission advised the authorities on improving BOP statistics.
January/February 2012	Technical expert advised on improving the compilation of price statistics.
September 2011	DfID-funded TA mission advised the authorities on improving BOP statistics.
July 2011	DfID-funded short-term expert advised the authorities on improving national accounts statistics.
March/April 2011	DfID-funded TA mission advised the authorities on improving BOP statistics.
September 2010	DfID-funded short-term expert advised the authorities on improving national accounts statistics.
August/September 2010	DfID-funded TA mission advised the authorities on improving BOP and IIP statistics.
February 2010	TA mission advised on measures to improve monetary and financial statistics.
June 2008	Fourth visit of the DfID-funded TA mission assisted the authorities in improving the compilation of national accounts statistics, particularly in rebasing the GDP series and in calculating GDP by the expenditure approach, using the results from the 2004 Economic Census.
April/May 2008	Follow-up visit of a 2006 TA mission to assist the CBG in improving the compilation of monetary and financial statistics and in preparing the standardized report forms for reporting monetary data to the IMF.
March 2008	Third visit of the DfID-funded TA mission assisted the authorities in improving the compilation of national accounts statistics, particularly in rebasing the GDP series and in calculating GDP by the expenditure approach, using the results from the 2004 Economic Census.
	Others
March and October 2017	FIN safeguards monitoring missions.
February 2012	An LEG expert held a VAT workshop for stakeholders and helped finalize the new VAT law and related background materials.
December 2011	An LEG expert helped draft the new VAT law.

Resident Representative

Ms. Ruby Randall has been the Fund’s Resident Representative in The Gambia since September 2017.

Joint Bank-Fund Work Program

The Gambia: Joint Bank-Fund Work Program, June 2017–June 2018

The Gambia: Joint Bank-Fund Work Program, June 2017–June 2018

Title	Products	Timing of Missions	Target Board Date
A. Mutual Information on Relevant Work Program
Bank work program in next 12 months	Economic Management and Public Financial Management 1. Gambia DPO series Energy 2. Gambia Energy Project	May 2018 (tentative) March 2018 (tentative)	To be determined To be determined
Fund work program in next 12 months	Policy Advice 1. Article IV consultation and SMP review mission 2. Staff visit 3. SMP review / ECF negotiation mission	November-December 2017 May 2018 (tentative) H2 2018	March 2018 To be determined
B. Requests for Work Program Inputs
Fund request to Bank	Periodic updates on: CPIA, PFM reform, and civil service reform, SOE audits and reform.	Ongoing
Bank request to Fund	Periodic updates on macroeconomic framework.	Ongoing
C. Agreement on Joint Products and Missions
Joint products in next 12 months	Joint DSA	Ongoing	March 2018

View Table

The Gambia: Joint Bank-Fund Work Program, June 2017–June 2018

Title	Products	Timing of Missions	Target Board Date
A. Mutual Information on Relevant Work Program
Bank work program in next 12 months	Economic Management and Public Financial Management 1. Gambia DPO series Energy 2. Gambia Energy Project	May 2018 (tentative) March 2018 (tentative)	To be determined To be determined
Fund work program in next 12 months	Policy Advice 1. Article IV consultation and SMP review mission 2. Staff visit 3. SMP review / ECF negotiation mission	November-December 2017 May 2018 (tentative) H2 2018	March 2018 To be determined
B. Requests for Work Program Inputs
Fund request to Bank	Periodic updates on: CPIA, PFM reform, and civil service reform, SOE audits and reform.	Ongoing
Bank request to Fund	Periodic updates on macroeconomic framework.	Ongoing
C. Agreement on Joint Products and Missions
Joint products in next 12 months	Joint DSA	Ongoing	March 2018

Statistical Issues

As of February 16, 2018

I. Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance
General: Data have serious shortcomings that significantly hamper surveillance but efforts are underway to improve statistics. The most affected areas are monetary and financial data, balance of payments, and external debt statistics.
National Accounts (NA): The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) disseminated in April 2017 a set of annual GDP estimates—by activity and by expenditure approaches—for 2004-16 based on the 2006 Economic Census with 2004 as the benchmark year. Using the 2016 Economic Census (with a base year of 2015), GDP estimates of production and expenditure are to be rebased in the first half of 2018. Collaboration between stakeholders has improved somewhat and line ministries will continue to contribute to the development of sectoral statistics, particularly in agriculture, health, education, transport, and construction. The timeliness and accessibility of GDP figures remain a concern. The GBoS continues to face capacity and financial constraints to process data in a timely manner and develop quarterly estimates of GDP.
Price Statistics: The CPI weights and item basket are based on 2004 expenditures and are not therefore representative of current expenditure patterns. The GBoS planned to rebase the CPI using the results of the 2010 Integrated Household Survey and to release the rebased by January 2015 but this target was missed. The results of the 2015 (HIS) are now being finalized and the GBoS should use these data to update the CPI expenditure weights during 2018. An improved methodology for calculation of CPI elementary aggregates has been prepared and should be implemented at the time of the expenditure weights update. Once completed, these changes are expected to improve compilation significantly and to make CPI movements more reflective of the underlying price movements.
Government Finance Statistics: The authorities release data on central government transactions with a lag of about four weeks for both revenues and expenditures. With the introduction of the IFMIS in 2010, the compilation of expenditure data by functional category and by administration is now possible. However, the authorities have not yet started to make them available to the public at regular intervals, contrary to best practices. The compilation of project grant disbursements and project grant use has been a challenge, leading to financing discrepancies. Monthly data on domestic government financing are available with a delay of about four weeks.
Monetary and Financial Statistics: The Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) reports monetary data, using Standardized Report Forms for the central bank and other depository corporations (ODCs), which are published in the International Financial Statistics. However, the CBG faces some data shortcomings. The CBG suspended reporting monetary data to STA in November 2015 due to capacity constraints (the latest data refer to April 2015).Although the CBG resumed reporting monetary data to STA in October 2017, there is a large gap in the historical data between May 2015 and December 2016. For some financial assets and liabilities including loans and deposits of ODCs, economic sector and currency breakdowns consistent with the IMF’s Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual are not available. The coverage of ODCs excludes credit institutions, deposit-taking microfinance companies and Post Office Savings banks, which issue short-term liabilities. The CBG does not currently report data for other financial corporations.
Financial sector surveillance: Data quality has improved significantly following the introduction of an automated platform for regulatory returns. This paved the way for the recent implementation of comprehensive stress tests for the first time. However, cross border exposure data for financial corporations are not available. The CBG reported Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIs) to STA in October 2016 for publication on the IMF’s FSI webpage, including 11 of the 12 core indicators and 8 encouraged indicators for deposit takers. However, the CBG has not updated FSIs since then.
External sector statistics: The CBG produces quarterly balance of payments (BOP) statistics following the Balance of Payments Manual, 5th edition (BPM5). The international investment position (IIP) is not currently compiled. The CBG recently resumed BOP data submission to STA. Other improvements included the update of the enterprise registry and the launching of report forms to real estate agencies on a quarterly basis. Despite some improvements, BOP statistics continue to be affected by serious shortcomings. All transfers inflows are classified as current transfers; however, some relate to real estate purchases by nonresidents. The foreign assets and liabilities survey (FALS) was discontinued in 2015; there is lack of reliable data sources for direct investment and other financial account transactions of other sectors. Financial account transactions of central bank and commercial banks are estimated as differences of positions without exchange rate changes adjustments; therefore, revaluations are incorrectly recorded as transactions. There is room to improve coordination within the CBG and with other agencies to make full use of available administrative data for compilation purposes, including the use of financial statements of banks and selected nonfinancial corporations and the validation of financial account transactions of the general government with external debt data of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. The production of IIP statistics, even though partial and preliminary, is key to improve and validate the quality of investment income and financial account transactions. The latest TA mission conducted in 2017 assisted on revising 2015 and 2016 BOP, resulting in lower errors and omissions and on the preparation of preliminary partial IIP statistics for 2014–2016.
II. Data Standards and Quality
The Gambia has participated since 2003 in the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). STA has planned a mission in March 2018 to implement the enhanced GDDS (e-GDDS).	A data ROSC was published on December 1, 2005.
III. Reporting to STA
The Gambia has suspended reporting GFS data to the Government Finance Statistics Yearbook from the fiscal year 2010 onwards.

View Table

I. Assessment of Data Adequacy for Surveillance
General: Data have serious shortcomings that significantly hamper surveillance but efforts are underway to improve statistics. The most affected areas are monetary and financial data, balance of payments, and external debt statistics.
National Accounts (NA): The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) disseminated in April 2017 a set of annual GDP estimates—by activity and by expenditure approaches—for 2004-16 based on the 2006 Economic Census with 2004 as the benchmark year. Using the 2016 Economic Census (with a base year of 2015), GDP estimates of production and expenditure are to be rebased in the first half of 2018. Collaboration between stakeholders has improved somewhat and line ministries will continue to contribute to the development of sectoral statistics, particularly in agriculture, health, education, transport, and construction. The timeliness and accessibility of GDP figures remain a concern. The GBoS continues to face capacity and financial constraints to process data in a timely manner and develop quarterly estimates of GDP.
Price Statistics: The CPI weights and item basket are based on 2004 expenditures and are not therefore representative of current expenditure patterns. The GBoS planned to rebase the CPI using the results of the 2010 Integrated Household Survey and to release the rebased by January 2015 but this target was missed. The results of the 2015 (HIS) are now being finalized and the GBoS should use these data to update the CPI expenditure weights during 2018. An improved methodology for calculation of CPI elementary aggregates has been prepared and should be implemented at the time of the expenditure weights update. Once completed, these changes are expected to improve compilation significantly and to make CPI movements more reflective of the underlying price movements.
Government Finance Statistics: The authorities release data on central government transactions with a lag of about four weeks for both revenues and expenditures. With the introduction of the IFMIS in 2010, the compilation of expenditure data by functional category and by administration is now possible. However, the authorities have not yet started to make them available to the public at regular intervals, contrary to best practices. The compilation of project grant disbursements and project grant use has been a challenge, leading to financing discrepancies. Monthly data on domestic government financing are available with a delay of about four weeks.
Monetary and Financial Statistics: The Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) reports monetary data, using Standardized Report Forms for the central bank and other depository corporations (ODCs), which are published in the International Financial Statistics. However, the CBG faces some data shortcomings. The CBG suspended reporting monetary data to STA in November 2015 due to capacity constraints (the latest data refer to April 2015).Although the CBG resumed reporting monetary data to STA in October 2017, there is a large gap in the historical data between May 2015 and December 2016. For some financial assets and liabilities including loans and deposits of ODCs, economic sector and currency breakdowns consistent with the IMF’s Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual are not available. The coverage of ODCs excludes credit institutions, deposit-taking microfinance companies and Post Office Savings banks, which issue short-term liabilities. The CBG does not currently report data for other financial corporations.
Financial sector surveillance: Data quality has improved significantly following the introduction of an automated platform for regulatory returns. This paved the way for the recent implementation of comprehensive stress tests for the first time. However, cross border exposure data for financial corporations are not available. The CBG reported Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIs) to STA in October 2016 for publication on the IMF’s FSI webpage, including 11 of the 12 core indicators and 8 encouraged indicators for deposit takers. However, the CBG has not updated FSIs since then.
External sector statistics: The CBG produces quarterly balance of payments (BOP) statistics following the Balance of Payments Manual, 5th edition (BPM5). The international investment position (IIP) is not currently compiled. The CBG recently resumed BOP data submission to STA. Other improvements included the update of the enterprise registry and the launching of report forms to real estate agencies on a quarterly basis. Despite some improvements, BOP statistics continue to be affected by serious shortcomings. All transfers inflows are classified as current transfers; however, some relate to real estate purchases by nonresidents. The foreign assets and liabilities survey (FALS) was discontinued in 2015; there is lack of reliable data sources for direct investment and other financial account transactions of other sectors. Financial account transactions of central bank and commercial banks are estimated as differences of positions without exchange rate changes adjustments; therefore, revaluations are incorrectly recorded as transactions. There is room to improve coordination within the CBG and with other agencies to make full use of available administrative data for compilation purposes, including the use of financial statements of banks and selected nonfinancial corporations and the validation of financial account transactions of the general government with external debt data of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. The production of IIP statistics, even though partial and preliminary, is key to improve and validate the quality of investment income and financial account transactions. The latest TA mission conducted in 2017 assisted on revising 2015 and 2016 BOP, resulting in lower errors and omissions and on the preparation of preliminary partial IIP statistics for 2014–2016.
II. Data Standards and Quality
The Gambia has participated since 2003 in the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). STA has planned a mission in March 2018 to implement the enhanced GDDS (e-GDDS).	A data ROSC was published on December 1, 2005.
III. Reporting to STA
The Gambia has suspended reporting GFS data to the Government Finance Statistics Yearbook from the fiscal year 2010 onwards.

The Gambia: Common Indicators Required for Surveillance

¹ Any reserve assets that are pledged or otherwise encumbered should be specified separately. Also, data should comprise short-term liabilities linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means as well as the notional values of financial derivatives to pay and to receive foreign currency, including those linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means.

² Both market-based and officially-determined, including discount rates, money market rates, rates on treasury bills, notes and bonds.

³ Foreign, domestic bank, and domestic nonbank financing.

⁴ The general government consists of the central government (budgetary funds, extra budgetary funds, and social security funds) and state and local governments.

⁵ Including currency and maturity composition.

⁶ Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.

⁷ Daily (D); weekly (W); monthly (M); quarterly (Q); annually (A); irregular (I); and not available (NA).

⁸ These columns should only be included for countries for which Data ROSC (or a Substantive Update) has been published.

⁹ This reflects the assessment provided in the data ROSC or the Substantive Update (published on ., and based on the findings of the mission that took place during...) for the dataset corresponding to the variable in each row. The assessment indicates whether international standards concerning concepts and definitions, scope, classification/sectorization, and basis for recording are fully observed (O); largely observed (LO); largely not observed (LNO); not observed (NO); and not available (NA).

¹⁰ Same as footnote 7, except referring to international standards concerning (respectively) source data, assessment of source data, statistical techniques, assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs, and revision studies.

The Gambia: Common Indicators Required for Surveillance

	Date of latest observation	Date received	Frequency of Data7	Frequency of Reporting7	Frequency of Publication7	Memo Items:8
						Data Quality – Methodological soundness9	Data Quality – Accuracy and reliability10
Exchange Rates	06/2017	11/2017	D	W	M
International Reserve Assets and Reserve Liabilities of the Monetary Authorities1	06/2017	11/2017	W	W	M
Reserve/Base Money	06/2017	11/2017	D	W	M	LO, LO, LO, LO	LNO, LO, O, LO, LNO
Broad Money	06/2017	12/2017	M	M	M
Central Bank Balance Sheet	06/2017	11/2017	M	M	M
Consolidated Balance Sheet of the Banking System	03/2017	05/2017	M	M	M
Interest Rates2	06/2017	11/2017	W	W	M
Consumer Price Index	05/2017	06/2017	M	M	M
Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing3 – General Government4	N/A	N/A				LO, LO, O, O	LNO, LO, LO, LNO, NO
Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing3– Central Government	02/2017	02/2017	M	M	M
Stocks of Central Government and Central Government-Guaranteed Debt5	04/2017	04/2017	M	M	M
External Current Account Balance	Q4/2016	06/2017	Q	I	A	LNO, LNO, LNO, LO	LNO, LNO, LNO, LO, NO
Exports and Imports of Goods and Services	12/2017	03/2017	Q	I	A
GDP/GNP	12/2016	03/2017	A	A	A	LNO, LNO, O, LO	LNO, O, LNO, LO, NO
Gross External Debt	12/2016	04/2017	Q	I	A
International Investment Position6	N/A	N/A

¹ Any reserve assets that are pledged or otherwise encumbered should be specified separately. Also, data should comprise short-term liabilities linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means as well as the notional values of financial derivatives to pay and to receive foreign currency, including those linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means.

² Both market-based and officially-determined, including discount rates, money market rates, rates on treasury bills, notes and bonds.

³ Foreign, domestic bank, and domestic nonbank financing.

⁴ The general government consists of the central government (budgetary funds, extra budgetary funds, and social security funds) and state and local governments.

⁵ Including currency and maturity composition.

⁶ Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.

⁷ Daily (D); weekly (W); monthly (M); quarterly (Q); annually (A); irregular (I); and not available (NA).

⁸ These columns should only be included for countries for which Data ROSC (or a Substantive Update) has been published.

⁹ This reflects the assessment provided in the data ROSC or the Substantive Update (published on ., and based on the findings of the mission that took place during...) for the dataset corresponding to the variable in each row. The assessment indicates whether international standards concerning concepts and definitions, scope, classification/sectorization, and basis for recording are fully observed (O); largely observed (LO); largely not observed (LNO); not observed (NO); and not available (NA).

¹⁰ Same as footnote 7, except referring to international standards concerning (respectively) source data, assessment of source data, statistical techniques, assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs, and revision studies.

View Table

The Gambia: Common Indicators Required for Surveillance

	Date of latest observation	Date received	Frequency of Data7	Frequency of Reporting7	Frequency of Publication7	Memo Items:8
						Data Quality – Methodological soundness9	Data Quality – Accuracy and reliability10
Exchange Rates	06/2017	11/2017	D	W	M
International Reserve Assets and Reserve Liabilities of the Monetary Authorities1	06/2017	11/2017	W	W	M
Reserve/Base Money	06/2017	11/2017	D	W	M	LO, LO, LO, LO	LNO, LO, O, LO, LNO
Broad Money	06/2017	12/2017	M	M	M
Central Bank Balance Sheet	06/2017	11/2017	M	M	M
Consolidated Balance Sheet of the Banking System	03/2017	05/2017	M	M	M
Interest Rates2	06/2017	11/2017	W	W	M
Consumer Price Index	05/2017	06/2017	M	M	M
Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing3 – General Government4	N/A	N/A				LO, LO, O, O	LNO, LO, LO, LNO, NO
Revenue, Expenditure, Balance and Composition of Financing3– Central Government	02/2017	02/2017	M	M	M
Stocks of Central Government and Central Government-Guaranteed Debt5	04/2017	04/2017	M	M	M
External Current Account Balance	Q4/2016	06/2017	Q	I	A	LNO, LNO, LNO, LO	LNO, LNO, LNO, LO, NO
Exports and Imports of Goods and Services	12/2017	03/2017	Q	I	A
GDP/GNP	12/2016	03/2017	A	A	A	LNO, LNO, O, LO	LNO, O, LNO, LO, NO
Gross External Debt	12/2016	04/2017	Q	I	A
International Investment Position6	N/A	N/A

¹ Any reserve assets that are pledged or otherwise encumbered should be specified separately. Also, data should comprise short-term liabilities linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means as well as the notional values of financial derivatives to pay and to receive foreign currency, including those linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means.

² Both market-based and officially-determined, including discount rates, money market rates, rates on treasury bills, notes and bonds.

³ Foreign, domestic bank, and domestic nonbank financing.

⁴ The general government consists of the central government (budgetary funds, extra budgetary funds, and social security funds) and state and local governments.

⁵ Including currency and maturity composition.

⁶ Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.

⁷ Daily (D); weekly (W); monthly (M); quarterly (Q); annually (A); irregular (I); and not available (NA).

⁸ These columns should only be included for countries for which Data ROSC (or a Substantive Update) has been published.

⁹ This reflects the assessment provided in the data ROSC or the Substantive Update (published on ., and based on the findings of the mission that took place during...) for the dataset corresponding to the variable in each row. The assessment indicates whether international standards concerning concepts and definitions, scope, classification/sectorization, and basis for recording are fully observed (O); largely observed (LO); largely not observed (LNO); not observed (NO); and not available (NA).

¹⁰ Same as footnote 7, except referring to international standards concerning (respectively) source data, assessment of source data, statistical techniques, assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs, and revision studies.