The governor of the Central Bank Mr. Buah Saidy
By Ramatoulie Jawo
The Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Mr. Buah Saidy, has reported a modest increase in food inflation, which rose to 6.6% in October 2024, compared to 6.3% in September 2024.
During the Central Bank’s final quarterly review of the Gambia’s economic performance in 2024, Governor Saidy explained that while food inflation slightly decelerated to 12.8% in October from 13.0% in July, there were mixed trends within the food basket. The moderation in inflation was attributed to price reductions in major food categories, such as meat, milk, cheese, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and sugar. However, this easing was offset by higher prices for bread, cereals, fish, oil, and fats.On the non-food front, inflation increased marginally to 6.6% in October from 6.3% in September, primarily driven by rising energy costs, particularly for firewood, within the housing, water, electricity, and gas sectors.
“Food inflation slightly decelerated to 12.8 percent in October 2024, from 13.0 percent in July 2024. The easing of food inflation reflects moderation in major components in the food basket, including the price indices of meat, milk, cheese and eggs, fruits and nuts, vegetables, and sugar which offsets the increase in the prices of bread and cereals fish and oil and fats on the other hand non-food inflation marginally rose to 6.6 percent in the review period from 6.3 percent reported in September 2024 on account of rising energy costs particularly firewood, within the housing, water, electricity, and gas categories,” Governor Saidy revealed.
In addition to the food inflation update, Governor Saidy highlighted that the Central Bank’s core inflation—excluding volatile food and energy prices—rose modestly to 3.5% in October, up from 3.1% in September.
“Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food products, rose to 3.5 percent in October from 3.1 percent in September 2024,”he said.
Turning to the banking sector, the Governor reported a stable financial environment, with notable growth in the third quarter of 2024. The industry’s asset base increased to 64.7% of GDP by September, up from 59.6% in June. Customer deposits, which continue to be the primary funding source for banks, also saw a 5.6% quarter-on-quarter rise, reaching D66.1 billion by the end of September.
Governor Saidy further emphasized the Central Bank’s strong international reserves, which stood at $460 million in October 2024, sufficient to cover 4.6 months of imports.
Finally, preliminary figures for the balance of payments indicated an improvement in the current account deficit for the first nine months of 2024, which narrowed to $59.9 million (2.8% of GDP) from a deficit of $129.3 million (5.9% of GDP) in the same period in 2023.
“The banking sector remains stable, with robust performance in the third quarter of 2024 the industry asset base reached 64.7 percent of GDP in September 2024 compared to 59.6 percent of GDP reported in June 2024 similarly total customer deposits, which continue to be the main source of funding for banks increased by 5.6 percent quarter on quarter to stand at D66.1 billion as of September 2024.