Financial Markets in The Gambia, 1981-91 A Report to the USAID Mission Banjul, The Gambia
Loading...
Date
1993-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ohio State University. Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics
Abstract
Formal and informal financial markets in The Gambia are made up of many segments. Banks, cooperatives, village savings and credit associations, non-governmental organizations, private traders, suppliers, and microentrepreneurs all operate as intermediary / agents in The Gambia and are investigated in varying degrees of detail in this study. Each is important in providing some financial services to businesses or households. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed on the activities of these financial agents. The major questions addressed are the magnitudes of these financial activities, the nature of the financial services offered, the markets in which they operate, the clientele served, the terms and conditions of their financial services, and the efficiency of their financial operations. Of particular interest here is documentation of the performance of these agents and identifying factors that have shaped their performance in the past decade. How has the liberalization of financial markets and the introduction of a treasury bill market altered the composition of assets in the banking industry? What implications emerge from this restructuring of the banking sector? Finally, what alternative networks of financial intermediaries and agents currently operate in rural financial markets and what is their potential for supplying financial services to rural Gambia?