Gambia Banks and Banking
Financial Institutions in The Gambia
The Gambia's financial system is built around the Central
Bank of The Gambia, six commercial banks, foreign exchange
bureaux, and nine insurance companies. In addition, there
is a non-bank parastatal, the Social Security and Housing
Finance Corporation (SSHFC), that invests its available
funds to meet future pension and provident fund obligations.
Other components of The Gambia's financial system include
micro-credit institutions engaged mainly in small-scale
rural project financing.
Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG)
The Central Bank of The Gambia has as part of its functions,
the following:
to stimulate growth in productivity and employment generation
in the desired sectors through the prudent use of monetary
policy measures to control inflation through its power to
regulate the rate of credit expansion by commercial banks.
Inflation in The Gambia has been kept at bay averaging around
4% on a year-to-year-basis to provide banking services to
the Government and other commercial banks, and to insurance
companies.
CBG has demonstrated an efficient value management capacity
of the country's currency, whose rate of exchange has been
generally stable. The Dalasi is the most stable currency
in West Africa.
Through the use of indirect controls as a substitute to
the use of credit ceilings, the Bank's focused policy has
resulted in more efficient allocation of funds as well as
enhanced financial inter-mediation that encourage private
investments in the economy.
Commercial Banks in Gambia
The six commercial banks currently existing offer such
banking services as trade finance and credit, dealings in
foreign exchange and equity participation and deposits.
However, in spite of the full liberalisation of the banking
environment, and conformity with the WTO Agreement on financial
services, the banking sector still remains uncompetitive
and thus offers a narrow range of financial products and
services to meet comprehensively, the development needs
of the economy.
To increase the range of available financial services,
Government encourages, with prioritised urgency, the development
of additional/alternative financial institutions, stock
market, and village savings and micro-credit schemes to
enhance credit access possibilities in The Gambia.
Banking Hours in Gambia
All banks are open from 0800hrs to 1330hrs Monday to Thursday,
and 0800hrs to 1130 hrs on Friday. Some banks are open also
on Saturdays up to noon
