Inter-linkages between international and internal remittances and financial sector development in Ghana

The increase in volumes and circulation of internal and international remittances have become a substantial part of resource flow for economic development especially in developing countries with a significant impact on household welfare. Over the years however studies on remittances have focused almost exclusively on international remittances with attention to internal remittances only receiving minimal discussions. In contrast with the usual remittance literature, this paper adds two key aspects to the debate focusing on the linkage between internal and international remittances and how that interrelationship impact on the financial sector in Ghana. The data for the study was collected from recipients of international remittances in 2013 with 2012 as the reference year. The study showed that international remittance, even though, flows from a small number of international migrants to a relatively small number of people locally, the spread of internal remittance is wide and more frequent.