New Delhi: Remittances to developing countries in 2012 are expected to cross $ 400 billion with a World Bank report putting India to be the top recipient country that has an officially recorded remittance of $ 70 billion, ahead of China with $ 66 billion for the year.
The World Bank Migration and Development Brief released Wednesday put worldwide remittances for 2012, which included developed countries, at $ 534 billion of which $ 406 billion was expected to go into developing countries alone.
Global remittances are expected to increase to $ 685 billion by 2015, of which the report projects $ 534 billion would be flowing to developing countries.
In 2012, the top recipient country recorded in India with $ 70 billion remittance, followed by China $ 66 billion, Philippines and Mexico have recorded $ 24 billion each and Nigeria is a recipient of $ 21 billion recorded remittance for the year.
Other countries getting large remittance flows include Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh Vietnam and Lebanon.
Despite a growth in remittance flows, the global economic crisis looming over had impacted remittance flows into regions like Europe, Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, the report points out.
Whereas regions like South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) total remittances are expected to better previous estimates. For South Asia, remittances in 2012 are expected to total $109 billion, an increase of 12.5 percent over 2011
In 2011, remittances made up 47 percent of the GDP of Tajikistan, 31 percent of Liberia, 29 percent of Kyrgyz Republic, 27 percent of Lesotho, 23 percent of Moldova and 22 percent of Nepal.
“Migrant workers are displaying tremendous resilience in the face of the continuing economic crisis in advanced countries,” said Dilip Ratha, lead author of the report.
High costs of sending money that averaged 7.5 percent for the top 20 bilateral remittances corridors in the third quarter of 2012, was pointed out as an obstacle in global remittances with the average remittance cost for Sub-Saharan Africa at 12.4 percent, being the highest amongst all developing regions.
“Remittance volumes have remained remarkably resilient,” says Hans Timmer, director of the Bank’s Development Prospects Group. “It is providing a vital lifeline to not only poor families but a steady reliable source of foreign currency in many poor countries,” he added.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
