Folks, the end is nearing for the criminals and cannot let them escape. Please read on. Tales of Mismanagement, Corruption And Fiscal Indiscipline Incur IMF Wrath The Independent (Banjul) September 5, 2003 Posted to the web September 5, 2003 Banjul Woeful tales of mismanagement, corruption and fiscal indiscipline in government have reportedly incurred the wrath of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank who may put their work in The Gambia temporarily on hold until "sanity" returns to the country's economic system. The Brettonwood institutions' reported wrath comes against the backdrop of especially harsh economic realities for ordinary Gambians seen as the most glaring evidence of the aftermath of mal-administration. Dependable sources within the higher rungs of Yahya Jammeh's administration intimated to The Independent earlier this week that IMF and World Bank officials are increasingly losing patience with the dismal economic performance of the regime and their language of understanding and patience is increasingly giving way to a more resolute stand that may culminate in "punitive isolation" of The Gambia. This may mean significant cut in aid for the country's economic development drive the sources added in confidence. "This will in effect be a kind of sanction on the government by the IMF and the World Bank, who want to see some form of sanity in the administration of resources, a process which may include an auditing exercise at the Central Bank and some job cuts in the civil service" another top government official, whose anonymity was assured as a precondition to providing this information indicated. The IMF and the World Bank are reportedly displeased with the level of fiscal indiscipline as suggested in official corruption and resource wastage, which put work to restore sanity into the economic system in disarray. The Central Bank is reportedly a salient target for IMF and the World Bank's recommended measures to turn the country's economic fortunes, which is a reported condition if the Fund were to resume and retain interest in The Gambia's development efforts. Sources even went as far as suggesting that the IMF and the World Bank are on the verge of suspending their activities in the country although this could not be independently verified coupled with speculations that a cabinet reshuffle was imminent as President Jammeh reportedly attempts to act decisively before losing potential international donors concerned about the economic situation of the country, which is not complimented by a free-falling local currency, and a deteriorating standard of living for ordinary people. Apart from the Central Bank, other institutions reportedly being singled out for radical reforms by the IMF and the World Bank are the Finance Department and the Customs and Excise Department, the latter of which sources said has experienced some abrupt cuts in government intervention. Insiders at the Customs and Excise Department intimated that from the end of July to the end of September the Accountant General has decided to stop all payments for overtime work by its staff, pointing to the need for a revised approach towards national spending in view of the government's depleting coffers and the debilitating economic gridlock. Customs insiders believe that their overtime dues will be permanently discontinued although it was part of the "items of package" from the IMF and the World Bank. Accountant General Margaret Keita is however on leave, The Independent has gathered and may not be available for sometime to answer to inquiries about this new and unpopular directive, which reportedly emanated from her and which seems to be part of a string of measures to address the "wasteful" spending characterising Yahya Jammeh's administration. Meanwhile the Department of Finance appears resigned to the fate of the local currency, calling on all Gambians to share the responsibility for the resultant economic crisis, which is still declining complacently downhill as price instabilities become the rule rather than the exception to our economic morass. The Independent (Banjul) September 5, 2003 Posted to the web September 5, 2003 Banjul Woeful tales of mismanagement, corruption and fiscal indiscipline in government have reportedly incurred the wrath of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank who may put their work in The Gambia temporarily on hold until "sanity" returns to the country's economic system. The Brettonwood institutions' reported wrath comes against the backdrop of especially harsh economic realities for ordinary Gambians seen as the most glaring evidence of the aftermath of mal-administration. Dependable sources within the higher rungs of Yahya Jammeh's administration intimated to The Independent earlier this week that IMF and World Bank officials are increasingly losing patience with the dismal economic performance of the regime and their language of understanding and patience is increasingly giving way to a more resolute stand that may culminate in "punitive isolation" of The Gambia. This may mean significant cut in aid for the country's economic development drive the sources added in confidence. "This will in effect be a kind of sanction on the government by the IMF and the World Bank, who want to see some form of sanity in the administration of resources, a process which may include an auditing exercise at the Central Bank and some job cuts in the civil service" another top government official, whose anonymity was assured as a precondition to providing this information indicated. The IMF and the World Bank are reportedly displeased with the level of fiscal indiscipline as suggested in official corruption and resource wastage, which put work to restore sanity into the economic system in disarray. The Central Bank is reportedly a salient target for IMF and the World Bank's recommended measures to turn the country's economic fortunes, which is a reported condition if the Fund were to resume and retain interest in The Gambia's development efforts. Sources even went as far as suggesting that the IMF and the World Bank are on the verge of suspending their activities in the country although this could not be independently verified coupled with speculations that a cabinet reshuffle was imminent as President Jammeh reportedly attempts to act decisively before losing potential international donors concerned about the economic situation of the country, which is not complimented by a free-falling local currency, and a deteriorating standard of living for ordinary people. Apart from the Central Bank, other institutions reportedly being singled out for radical reforms by the IMF and the World Bank are the Finance Department and the Customs and Excise Department, the latter of which sources said has experienced some abrupt cuts in government intervention. Insiders at the Customs and Excise Department intimated that from the end of July to the end of September the Accountant General has decided to stop all payments for overtime work by its staff, pointing to the need for a revised approach towards national spending in view of the government's depleting coffers and the debilitating economic gridlock. Customs insiders believe that their overtime dues will be permanently discontinued although it was part of the "items of package" from the IMF and the World Bank. Accountant General Margaret Keita is however on leave, The Independent has gathered and may not be available for sometime to answer to inquiries about this new and unpopular directive, which reportedly emanated from her and which seems to be part of a string of measures to address the "wasteful" spending characterising Yahya Jammeh's administration. Meanwhile the Department of Finance appears resigned to the fate of the local currency, calling on all Gambians to share the responsibility for the resultant economic crisis, which is still declining complacently downhill as price instabilities become the rule rather than the exception to our economic morass. _________________________________________________________________ Get 10MB of e-mail storage! Sign up for Hotmail Extra Storage. http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~