SME Times News Bureau | 09 Apr, 2019
India has
become the world's top remittance recipient country in 2018, with its diaspora
sending $79 billion back home.
"Remittances
grew by more than 14 per cent in India, where a flooding disaster in Kerala likely
boosted the financial help that migrants sent to families," added a World
Bank report.
India was followed by China ($67 billion), Mexico ($36 billion), the
Philippines ($34 billion) and Egypt ($29 billion), according to the latest
edition of the World Bank's Migration and Development Brief released on Monday.
In 2016, India received $62.7 billion in remittances and in 2017 it was $65.3
billion.
According to the report, remittances to low and middle-income countries rose
9.6 per cent from 2017 and touched a record high of $529 billion in 2018.
Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, reached $689
billion in 2018, up from $633 billion in 2017.
Regionally, growth in remittance inflows ranged from almost 7 per cent in East
Asia and the Pacific to 12 per cent in South Asia, the World Bank said.
"The overall increase was driven by a stronger economy and employment
situation in the US and a rebound in outward flows from some Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the
UAE) and the Russian Federation," it stated.
Excluding China, remittances to low and middle-income countries ($462 billion)
were significantly larger than foreign direct investment flows in 2018 ($344
billion).
On ways to lower remittance costs, Dilip Ratha, lead author of the report,
said: "Remittances are on track to become the largest source of external
financing in developing countries. The high costs of money transfers reduce the
benefits of migration.
"Renegotiating exclusive partnerships and letting new players operate
through national post offices, banks, and telecommunications companies will
increase competition and lower remittance prices."