The Gambia government spent 10.8 billion dalasis in the first six months of 2020, the country’s Central Bank monetary committee has said.

The committee holds quarterly summit on the country’s economic outlook and it said during a virtual conference on Thursday “Government expenditure and net lending for the first six months of 2020 increased by 11 percent to D10.8 billion (11.0 percent of GDP) from D9.7 billion (11.1 percent of GDP) in the first half of 2019.

“Recurrent expenditure increased by 31.2 percent to D8.0 billion (8.1 percent of GDP) compared to D6.1 billion (7.0 percent of GDP) in the first half of 2019.”

“Capital expenditure on the other hand, declined by 22.9 percent to D2.8 billion (2.9 percent of GDP) the period under review,” the committee added.

The figures cover the financial year to June 2020, so do not reflect the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.