Karafa
Jobarteh, the deputy director at the Foreign Exchange Department of Central
Bank of The Gambia has disclosed at the recent Third Diaspora Roundtable
Technical Meeting that the 2019 remittance to the country has increased to
$318.50 million.
“The
remittance volume which recorded $205.6 million, $226.7 million and $277.9
million in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively increased to $318.50 million in
2019,” he told the conference.
He
further indicated that private remittances continue to improve considerably
over the past half a decade.
Deputy
Director Jobarteh attributed the significant increase in remittance numbers to
the improved data compilation coupled with the renewed confidence in both the
macroeconomic and political landscape of The Gambia.
Mr.
Jobarteh posited that the contributions of the Diaspora cannot be
overemphasised, noting that the remittance numbers account for about 20% of
GDP. Mr. Jobarteh further indicated that the remittance corridors have
significantly shifted as the USA and UK have leapfrogged Spain as the main
source of remittance inflows. He also
noted that a Gambian Money Transfer Operator is doing very well in the
remittance market as its volume remain in the mix of the top Five MTOs.
The
One day meeting was held at the National Assembly building.
