Ebrima S. Jallow
A delegation from The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) where in The Gambia from 29th August to 2nd September 2022 to visit projects funded by SFD, embark on reconciliation exercise with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) and also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) for 2022.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused the loss of countless lives throughout the world. On top of the high death toll, the pandemic dealt a significant blow to the world’s poorest economies resulting in a recession that pushed more than 100 million people into extreme poverty.
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020, The World Bank together with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged G20 countries to set up the DSSI to aid poor countries to concentrate their resources on fighting the pandemic and safeguarding the livelihoods of their most vulnerable citizens.
Following the World Bank and IMF’s initiative with the G20, the Government of the Gambia in March 2020 wrote to all of its creditors requesting for suspension of debt service obligations as it grappled with the pandemic. The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) is one of the creditors that agreed to The Gambia’s plea. Since then, The Government of The Gambia through MoFEA has signed two MoUs with SFD on the DSSI which highlights the pair’s strong bilateral relation.
