Improving Public Debt Management
In the OIC Member Countries
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B) Public Debt ManagementGovernance and Strategy Development
Legal frameworkIn 2014 the government of Gambia enacted a comprehensive Public Finance Law which
provides necessary and required standard legislation provisions for public debt management,
protection for the investor community, and strengthens the institutional arrangement of
overall debt management processes and practices (MoFEA 2015). 13 The law also addresses the
management of subnational and public enterprises’ debt and the roles of the internal and
external audit as well as the National Assembly.
Managerial structure (incl. coordination with other policies)The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) is the only government body allowed
to “borrow and/or onlend money from any legal entity or person and to enter into a
guarantee or indemnity with third parties” (MoFEA 2015, p. 23). The MoFEA determines the
form, terms, conditions and instruments of borrowing. In issues relating to monetary policy
the MoFEA consults the Central Bank of Gambia (CBG). The National Assembly has to ratify
external loans and guarantees. The CBG is mainly a banker, financial advisor and fiscal agent of
the government, “but in addition issues domestic government securities – mainly Tbills – in
the primary market for implementation of both monetary policy and for funding the
government‘s fiscal deficits” (World Bank 2010, p. 16). The MoFEA and the CBG coordinate via
various communication committees (e.g. Highlevel Economic Committee, MacroEconomic
Committee, Monetary Policy Committee, Treasury Bills Committee).
The Directorate of Loans and Debt Management (DLDM) at the MoFEA is responsible for the
management and implementation of public debt operations. The front office at the DLDM is
responsible for resource mobilization (external loans and credits negotiation); the middle
office is responsible for the preparation of MTDS and coordinating the Debt Sustainability
Analysis (DSA); and the back office is responsible for recording and reporting of debt statistics.
The DLDM is supposed to increase its capacities and be more active in reporting, recording and
managing domestic debt in the future (MoFEA 2015).
A Public Debt Management Advisory Committee has been established and was fully
operational in 2014 (MoFEA 2014). The committee is responsible for advising on debt
management reforms. In addition, the MoFEA is considering the creation of an adhoc working
group with representatives from the MoFEA, CBG and market participants to evaluate
domestic debt market developments (Morachiello et al. 2015).
Debt reportingThe MoFEA publishes an Annual Public Debt Bulletin, which includes a cost and risk analysis of
the public debt portfolio (MoFEA 2013, 2014). The debt management strategy document also
includes statistics of debt developments and debt structures (MoFEA 2012, 2015). A new
comprehensive database on general government debt, which includes also liabilities of
municipal councils, is currently being planned (Morachiello et al. 2015).
13 Prior to the introduction of the Public Finance Law, the most important legal document referring to public debtmanagement in Gambia was the Government Budget Management and Accountability Act (GBMA Act 2004, Article 35).