The Gambia’s Central Bank governor has dismissed claim that tax increase has led to price hike in basic commodities.

Buah Saidy was responding to questions from journalists at the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee quarterly news conference in Banjul.

There has been a steady rise in the price of basic commodities such as rice and sugar amid the coronavirus pandemic. But the bank governor said the hike was due to structural problems rather than taxation. 

“The tax increase has nothing to do with increase in prices and in The Gambia the major commodity which causes the increase in prices for instance rice is zero tax so it is not because of the tax increase that is resulting in an increase in price,” he said.

According to Mr Saidy, part of the increase in commodity prices “is structural and that is being addressed by the government in trying to improve the efficiency of the ports”, adding that “the port’s expansion [will increase capacity because] the port can take one vessel at a time.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba