The minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Mambury Njie, has confronted claims surrounding his ministry’s handling of the Banjul Breweries saga and the tax hike that almost shutdown the country’s only brewery.

Banjul Breweries Company Limited had earlier threatened to shut down its business after the government imposed a 75 per cent tax hike on excise duty. The company said the new tax regime would bankrupt it and had laid off 18 workers while 150 others were put on notice for redundancies.

Speaking on Tuesday during a public lecture held at a local hotel, Finance minister, Mambury Njie, said “the tax on Banjul Breweries is not on all the beverages it is only on alcohol.”

 According to him, the technical team at his ministry did a thorough regional study, adding “we were the lowest for decades and we’ve have been charging 10%.”

He said “as far as we are concern up to yesterday they are not closing” adding that the 200 staff workers will not lose their jobs again.

Mr. Njie said his ministry is holding a dialogue with Banjul Breweries Company Limited, adding “but that doesn’t mean that the ministry of Finance took a unilateral decision.”

“Government tax was only for the alcohol, it has nothing to do with the other beverages,” he said.

He claimed that he doesn’t belong to the school of thought that increases taxes but “belong to the school of thought that broaden tax, capture more from the informal into the formal sector.”   

Mr. Njie also said the Gambia government over the years has been reducing the “cooperate taxes” coming down to 27%.

However, he said alcohol could be deterrence in the industry making reference that “we have seen (how) the underage people have been abusing the alcohol.”

But, he added that proper regulations could be taken to control the abuse of alcohol in the country.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba