Abdou Kolley, minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, has said that the World Bank is The Gambia's leading multilateral donor agency.

Minister Kolley made this remarks yesterday, during the World Bank/Government of The Gambia 2009 country portfolio performance review. The programme, which aimed to review progress on implementation of projects, identify strengths and weaknesses of the portfolio, among others is currently underway at the Corinthia Atlantic Hotel in Banjul.

Minister Kolley in his statement, said the World Bank has a total active portfolio size US$36 million spread across priority sectorslike education, infrastructural development, trade, health and multi-sectoral, including capacity development and public financial reforms in governance. "The Bank in 2009 is participating in the multi-donor budget support arrangement and has provided XDR 4, 500, 000 equivalent to US$7 million," he noted.

"The Bank now provides 100 percent grant financing, reflecting a change in leading policies of the Bank to debt distress economics. It also provided debt relief of The Gambia under both the HIPC and MDRI initiatives totalling about US$27M and US$183M respectively to be drawn down over the next 30 years to support growth and poverty reduction programmes in the country," he revealed.

Hon Kolley described the 2009 country portfolio performance review as an important evaluation and monitoring exercise, as it creates a forum where both the government of The Gambia and the World Bank review the implementation bottlenecks, discuss and agree on the proposed solutions to achieve the approved projects and objectives.

Habib Fetini, the World Bank country director for The Gambia, expressed the similar sentiment. The programme continued with various project presentations by various departments.