Gambian Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Honourable Seedy Keita, on Monday, 21st September 2026, announced before lawmakers that debt interest expenditure has grown to GMD 3.10 billion, representing 45% of the annual budgeted amount. He further noted that Other Expenditures increased by 4% to reach GMD 12.32 billion, accounting for 42% of the budgeted figure.
Minister Keita made the disclosure while delivering his oral statement on the annual budget execution during the Mid-Year 2026 Budget Performance Brief.
The Mid-Year Budget Monitoring and Implementation Brief provides an assessment of The Gambia Government Local Fund (GLF) budget execution—covering domestic revenue mobilisation, program budget spending, and gross deficit financing—during the first half of FY2026.
This Budgetary Balance Brief offers a high-level overview of national budget implementation for the period January 1st to June 30th, with a focus on variance analysis of GLF performance against the annual budget.
Total GLF Expenditure & Net Lending: He stated that the GLF increased by 6% to reach GMD 15.42 billion, realising 42% of the budgeted annual amount of GMD 36.49 billion.
Key Highlights of Mid-Year FY2026 GLF Budget Performance:
- Total Revenue: Total revenue (excluding project grants) amounted to GMD 15.35 billion, an 8% increase over domestic revenue mobilised in 2025—driven mainly by an 8% rise in tax receipts.
- This outturn represents 43% of the annual approved budget of GMD 35.87 billion.
- Non-tax revenue also increased by 8% annually to reach GMD 2.00 billion, largely due to a 14% rise in government non-tax revenues.
Debt Interest & Other Expenditures: Compared to GLF spending in the previous year, debt interest expenditures grew by 18% to reach GMD 3.10 billion, while other expenditures rose by 4% to GMD 12.32 billion.
The main drivers of other expenditure performance, he indicated, are Personnel Emoluments (49% budget execution rate) and Subsidies & Transfers (47% budget execution rate).
Minister Keita added: “Total expenditure exceeded total revenue to create a gross deficit of GMD 68.86 million, which is consistent with the budgeted figure.”
Details of Consolidated Revenue Realised: Domestic revenue performance for the first half of 2026 amounted to GMD 15.35 billion, compared to GMD 14.24 billion during the same period in 2025—an increase of 8%.
The two primary components of domestic revenue—tax revenue and non-tax revenue—both increased by 8%.
He concluded: “When compared to the target of GMD 32.20 billion in the approved budget, domestic revenue during the first half of 2026 achieved a budget execution rate of 48%.”
