Foreign exchange enables a country to pay for goods and services from other countries. It is indispensable to international trade. Foreign exchange can be acquired through export of goods and services. The Gambia exports very little. Hence the currency depends largely on remittances to augment its foreign exchange capacity.
The government needs to study the various means of effecting the transfer of earnings of Gambians abroad. The decision of the central bank to allow deposits in foreign currency has encouraged many Gambians to deposit in Gambian banks as the first stage of making strategic investment in the productive base of the economy. The government is good at documenting remittances coming into the country. What it is not good at doing is monitoring the investments into the productive base in order to motivate others to follow suit.
Remittances must not only increase in amount. Their multiplying effect in enhancing sustainable economic development should be captured in concrete studies made by the government.
