The Gambia : Joint Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Analysis, 2018 Update

An updated debt sustainability analysis (DSA) indicates that The Gambia is currently in external debt distress and that public debt is unsustainable. Both external and domestic debt are very high, and a significant pipeline of already-contracted lo...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: International Development Association, International Monetary Fund
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/545741539630784796/The-Gambia-Joint-Bank-Fund-Debt-Sustainability-Analysis-2018-Update
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30906
id okr-10986-30906
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-309062021-05-25T09:19:35Z The Gambia : Joint Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Analysis, 2018 Update International Development Association International Monetary Fund EXTERNAL DEBT DEBT SERVICE DEBT SUSTAINABILITY GRACE AND MATURITY PERIOD INTEREST RATE PUBLIC DEBT DEBT BURDEN CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT MACROECONOMIC POLICY EXTERNAL SHOCK TERMS OF TRADE An updated debt sustainability analysis (DSA) indicates that The Gambia is currently in external debt distress and that public debt is unsustainable. Both external and domestic debt are very high, and a significant pipeline of already-contracted loans poses risks to solvency. External debt stock indicators have deteriorated since the March 2018 DSA, and all five external debt burden indicators breach their indicative thresholds by large margins and for an extended period in the passive scenario and in the active (baseline) scenario. The stress test results illustrate the country’s high vulnerability to shocks, total public debt is expected to remain elevated throughout the projection period, rollover risks associated with the short maturity of domestic debt are high, and contingent liabilities related to SOE debt pose additional risks. Furthermore, the sustained primary surpluses needed to reduce public debt would be politically and socially challenging given The Gambia’s substantial development needs. New borrowing would need to be on highly concessional terms and reserved for the very highest priority projects for which grant-financing is not available. The government should also refrain from offering any guarantees. An illustrative scenario shows how debt relief (comprising a deferral of principal due to pluri-lateral, bilateral official and private creditors and a softening of the terms of the already contracted loans)—complementing the implementation of a sound medium-term fiscal framework and debt strategy—could be instrumental in restoring debt sustainability. 2018-11-28T15:17:35Z 2018-11-28T15:17:35Z 2018-10-01 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/545741539630784796/The-Gambia-Joint-Bank-Fund-Debt-Sustainability-Analysis-2018-Update http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30906 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Debt and Creditworthiness Study Africa Gambia, The
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic EXTERNAL DEBT
DEBT SERVICE
DEBT SUSTAINABILITY
GRACE AND MATURITY PERIOD
INTEREST RATE
PUBLIC DEBT
DEBT BURDEN
CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT
MACROECONOMIC POLICY
EXTERNAL SHOCK
TERMS OF TRADE
spellingShingle EXTERNAL DEBT
DEBT SERVICE
DEBT SUSTAINABILITY
GRACE AND MATURITY PERIOD
INTEREST RATE
PUBLIC DEBT
DEBT BURDEN
CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT
MACROECONOMIC POLICY
EXTERNAL SHOCK
TERMS OF TRADE
International Development Association
International Monetary Fund
The Gambia : Joint Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Analysis, 2018 Update
geographic_facet Africa
Gambia, The
description An updated debt sustainability analysis (DSA) indicates that The Gambia is currently in external debt distress and that public debt is unsustainable. Both external and domestic debt are very high, and a significant pipeline of already-contracted loans poses risks to solvency. External debt stock indicators have deteriorated since the March 2018 DSA, and all five external debt burden indicators breach their indicative thresholds by large margins and for an extended period in the passive scenario and in the active (baseline) scenario. The stress test results illustrate the country’s high vulnerability to shocks, total public debt is expected to remain elevated throughout the projection period, rollover risks associated with the short maturity of domestic debt are high, and contingent liabilities related to SOE debt pose additional risks. Furthermore, the sustained primary surpluses needed to reduce public debt would be politically and socially challenging given The Gambia’s substantial development needs. New borrowing would need to be on highly concessional terms and reserved for the very highest priority projects for which grant-financing is not available. The government should also refrain from offering any guarantees. An illustrative scenario shows how debt relief (comprising a deferral of principal due to pluri-lateral, bilateral official and private creditors and a softening of the terms of the already contracted loans)—complementing the implementation of a sound medium-term fiscal framework and debt strategy—could be instrumental in restoring debt sustainability.
format Report
author International Development Association
International Monetary Fund
author_facet International Development Association
International Monetary Fund
author_sort International Development Association
title The Gambia : Joint Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Analysis, 2018 Update
title_short The Gambia : Joint Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Analysis, 2018 Update
title_full The Gambia : Joint Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Analysis, 2018 Update
title_fullStr The Gambia : Joint Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Analysis, 2018 Update
title_full_unstemmed The Gambia : Joint Bank-Fund Debt Sustainability Analysis, 2018 Update
title_sort gambia : joint bank-fund debt sustainability analysis, 2018 update
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2018
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/545741539630784796/The-Gambia-Joint-Bank-Fund-Debt-Sustainability-Analysis-2018-Update
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30906
_version_ 1764473065648947200