Late in 2012, Gambia’s currency experienced a decline resulting in inflation. According to All Africa, in September of 2013, inflation rates reached 6.1 percent — a small leap from the five percent rate which stood at the end of 2012.

Thursday, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released an update on the country’s economic progress which falls in line with the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility program. Both the Agriculture and tourism sectors have contributed to economic boosts, and now the IMF estimates that the country’s real GDP will reach 6.6 percent this year.

The IMF discovered these findings via a policy review mission — which took place November 7 – 20 — led by IMF Deputy Division Chief Bhaswar Mukhopadhyay.

“To realize The Gambia’s strong economic potential, it is imperative to restore macroeconomic stability. The mission supports the government’s development agenda outlined in the Program for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE),” Mukhopadhyay said in an IMF release.

“This agenda emphasizes an acceleration of real GDP growth and employment led by the private sector. These development plans can only be fulfilled under conditions of sustained macroeconomic stability.”

Despite growth potential, Mukhopadhyay noted that external factors will have a negative impact on Gambia’s economy. Domestic borrowing is expected to top six percent of GDP  — a result of an expanding fiscal budget, which is estimated to make up eight percent of GDP in 2013.

“To that end, the mission recommends implementing policies that would address these imbalances and set in motion a virtuous cycle. In particular, fiscal policy should be tightened using a combination of revenue and expenditure measures with the objective of lowering net domestic borrowing to 2.5 percent of GDP in 2014,” he continued in the release.

“This would allow the Central Bank of The Gambia to loosen somewhat the tight monetary policy stance, domestic interest rates to decline, and the resulting lower domestic interest payments to create room for spending on priorities.”

According to the release, the Extended Credit Facility program aids low-income countries and monitors progression through streamlined policy implementation checkpoints. Sometime during the second half of 2012, the IMF will follow-up with a second mission. Gambian authorities were mentioned as welcoming and cooperative.