Diaspora remittance scheme pitched for projects
Published:Thursday | June 16, 2022 | 12:11 AM
A young member of the Jamaican diaspora is urging the Government to consider a collective remittance scheme to fund grass-roots to state-level projects.
Global Jamaica Diaspora Youth Council regional leader for Northeast USA, Asha Richards, said that remittances are primarily channelled towards consumption and to supplement the incomes of Jamaicans.
A 2010 Bank of Jamaica survey had found that approximately 85 per cent of remittances received were used for paying utility bills and covering basic expenses.
Richards, who is pursuing a master’s degree at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, said Jamaicans have been consistent in sending remittances, and the country has one of the highest rates transfers among expatriates globally.
“We should be able to tap into that to further develop Jamaica and not necessarily have all our remittances go towards commerce and consumption,” Richards said during a panel discussion on Day Two of the Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference.
“Being able to leverage that could put Jamaica in such a better place and help us not to rely on the US or China or other countries to develop certain aspects of infrastructure, industry, and agriculture.”
Richards said overseas-based Jamaicans would remit money to an organised fund, which would then be channelled to respective projects.
Between 2012 and 2021, total remittances to the country increased by 71 per cent, moving from US$2 billion to US$3.5 billion, according to Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) data.
Remittances represent the largest flow of foreign exchange into Jamaica. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, remittances grew by more than 20 per cent, an increase from $2.91 billion to $3.3 billion.
Richards said that the scheme could partially model Mexico’s, where municipal, state, and federal governments match by three to one the funds that migrant clubs send to their hometowns to finance public projects.
“Especially projects that have high risk, that certain banks might be iffy to give loans to, we can utilise the diaspora and the money that is sent via these collective remittances to finance and build these projects up from the ground,” she remarked.