By Makutu Manneh
The Gambia’s Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, said this week that the country’s cost of living has begun to stabilize, citing a sharp drop in inflation and what he described as improved fiscal discipline under the Barrow administration.
Speaking during his weekly government briefing on the radio program Coffee Time With Peter Gomez, Dr. Ceesay noted that year-on-year inflation had fallen from 17 percent in September 2024 to 7.4 percent in September 2025. The easing, he said, has helped temper the prices of essential goods.
“So year-on-year inflation has gone down. And the cost of living has been stabilized, particularly the price of basic commodities. Now you can buy a bag of rice for D1,700 at retail price,” he said.
He indicated that the budget now prioritizes strong revenue mobilization, prudent fiscal management, and a reduced deficit.
Dr. Ceesay said the government’s current budget places stronger emphasis on revenue mobilization, prudent spending, and narrowing the deficit. Unlike many Western nations, he argued, The Gambia is not facing what he called “big holes” in public finances that require steep tax hikes or cuts to social spending.
According to the minister, the Barrow administration’s budget deficit stands at roughly 1 percent of GDP. He pointed to ongoing subventions and social protection programs as evidence that the government has maintained support for vulnerable households despite fiscal constraints.
Among those programs is the NAFA initiative, which provides monthly cash transfers through the Ministry of Gender to elderly citizens, widows, and people living with disabilities.
Dr. Ceesay also defended the government’s agricultural subsidies, challenging critics to show that previous administrations had provided greater assistance to farmers. While acknowledging complaints from the farming community, he said The Gambia’s support remains comparatively strong within the subregion.
“So the issue is that yes, farmers will complain about it, but in the sub-region, it cannot be matched in terms of the price. So what we are saying is that we are giving what we can do. Gambia is not a resource-rich country.”
He noted that The Gambia lacks major natural resources such as gold or diamonds and has yet to confirm commercial reserves of oil and gas.
Dr. Ceesay said the government, therefore, relies primarily on domestic revenue and assistance from development partners to fund its programs.
“And we are able to do all these things. No country has achieved what we have achieved after transitioning from either war to democracy or from autocracy to democracy,” he said
The minister argued that the administration’s performance is even more remarkable given what he described as a series of destabilizing challenges—a fraught political transition, the COVID-19 pandemic, two global conflicts, and what he called efforts by the United Democratic Party (UDP) to undermine President Barrow’s first term.
“After all these challenges, the president is able to deliver what he has delivered. It is unprecedented. No government can do it.“
“So we are better off today in every sector, healthcare, education, agriculture, women empowerment, youth empowerment, electricity, water, you name it,” he added.