 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
toubab1020
12306 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Jan 2009 : 12:53:37
|
I found this in the D.O. has anyone had the same experience as the writer?
http://observer.gm/africa/article/rescue-the-dalasi
Snippet:
Where is this heading to? Does it even make sense? No it doesn’t, because The Gambia is not among the CFA monetary zone. Fellow Gambians, are we going to let a few unscrupulous foreigners dictate and play with our currency while we stand aside and look? If it was the reverse, would we have the guts to do the same in their countries?
|
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
|
Edited by - toubab1020 on 13 Jan 2009 12:56:04 |
|
|
jammin
Jamaica
149 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2009 : 22:02:21
|
A legal tender.... is just that.... A legal tender.
I am sure that paying for goods and services with the legal tender of a country, make it obligatory for the recipient to accept such a tender.
There should/must be an enforcement Dept. within the Central Bank to deal with such violation of the economic process.
I am almost certain that the practice affect the prices of goods and thereby promote inflation.
|
Like a colossus He doth bestride the Narrow World |
 |
|
|
toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2009 : 22:12:35
|
| Good point,perhaps a word in the ear of H.E. would provide a correction to this practice of refusing legal tender! |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
|
|
|
|
njucks
Gambia
1131 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2009 : 09:28:44
|
quote:
Originally posted by jammin
............I am almost certain that the practice affect the prices of goods and thereby promote inflation.
??? hmmm. there is no evidence of that. this is an isolated experience. what he/she should have done is to simply walked into Wellingara Police Station and report the incident if he felt so strongly about it. thats he's civic duty as well rather than exergerate the extent of the problem.
|
|
|
|
kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2009 : 18:02:26
|
Such practices are common in inflationary economies. In Ghana for example, contracts were signed in US Dollars and on one of my visits, i saw an annoucement from the Central Bank of Ghana threateneing to sue any offenders insistinmg that that the Cedi is the Legal Tender in the country. It has to to do with confidence in the locval currency.
The reason was that by the time a contract is executed, inflation would have made it almost impossible to continue a project. Civil servants would normally buy Dollars as soon as they are paid and keep changing it often to keep up with inflation.
The Gambian ten butut coin also suffered similar fate and a shopkeeper would not take it from me when i presented it on the grounds that no one was taking it from him. Central Bank may perhaps withdraw some of these coins considering the cost of minting them vis a vis the economic impact if any regarding smooth trading transaction. If the coins do ot facilitate trade, then, they do not have any economic significance and the tax payer is better off not paying for the minting.
My thoughts. |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
|
|
|
toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2009 : 18:40:25
|
What a sensible posting Kons   |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
|
Edited by - toubab1020 on 14 Jan 2009 18:40:59 |
|
|
|
njucks
Gambia
1131 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2009 : 09:55:10
|
quote:
Originally posted by kondorong
..........
Such practices are common in inflationary economies.
..............The Gambian ten butut coin also suffered similar fate and a shopkeeper would not take it from me when i presented it on the grounds that no one was taking it from him. Central Bank may perhaps withdraw some of these coins considering the cost of minting them
lol.Kon as you are rightly aware the Dalasi has never suffer the inflation you find in other African countries like Zaire then and Ghana which used to have notes for 5000,50,000 & 100,000 currency units etc. Italy has the same problem with the Lira before the Euro came in. Italy had up to 500,000 Lira notes
The highest unit of the Dalasi in its almost 40 yr history is D100. infact the D100 was introduce a few year back.the Dalasi has done well
i agree you points are valid, considering the high cost of metals now but you have to look at it from the consumer protection point. If you buy something for D2.90 your change is 10b. if the 10b is withdrawn the trader simply will not give you anything back or rather will round up the prices to the nearest unit putting upward pressure on prices.
This is very typical in Senegal and the CFA zone, if you buy something for CFA 5,653 you dont get all your change back.
In the UK, 1p will not buy you anything most prices are XX.99p. So you it 1p back as change.
but the point about people not taking the Dalasi, is that it must be reported to the relevant authorites before they can take action this is why i suggested he walk to the local police.
but i maintain its not widespread it was an isolated case. |
|
|
|
kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2009 : 17:25:06
|
You missed the point. I was making reference to Ghana when it was 6000 cedis to one US Dollar. The Dalasi has remained stabled for a long time. It was D5.00 to one British Pound. Six butus or locally called NYATA could get you a half loaf of bread and some sauce in it. Infact school lunches cost only five bututs. That era is gone.
D25.00 can hardly get you something of significance. There is a business psychology in having prices at .99 cents in the West. It makes the customer feel that they got a bargain. $99.99 is more pleasing than $100.00. This is business psychology. Our economies are not that sophisticated to behave on similar platforms and for us, cost of minting makes every sense to withdraw these coins in circulation.
I think your argument is very academic and not reflecetive of its use interms of facilitating trade. There are very few prices in the Gambia which are not quoted as a whole. Part of the reason for people refusing the dalasi has to do with the exchange regimes of the Central Bank. Quite often, the Dalasi is over valued or controlled and beacuse most products consumed in the Gambia are imported, hoarding of foreign currency even by banks is common.
Look at the local banks trading rates on the internet. In some cases, there is almost a D2.00 difference between the buying and selling rates. Naturally this should be in bututs and not dalasis. The banks make up the higer selling rate to enable them buy hard currencies which we dont have.
The exchange rate in the Ganmbia is not reflective of what obtains in the inetrnational market in terms of valuation. Even the Central bank has its own rate of exchange for Customs valuation different from the Commercial banks rates and each banks rate is different from the other. Free market is good but not in matters of putting value to a currency. The value of the Dalasi should be uniform in each local bank. The reason for the cut-throat is the price/value dampening in the forex business in the Gambia.
Lets say that local banks can vary their rates which i do not have a problem with. But i will have a problem when the rate differences are up to one dalasis. In some banks, they dont even publish their rates in the banking halls. You will have to see the Currency Manager and your guess is as good as mine.
Lets compare like with like. Just like Nkrumaah said: If you will measure the success by the heights we have attained, then you must measure from the depths we came from. |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| Bantaba in Cyberspace |
© 2005-2024 Nijii |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
