Kaushik Basu (Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, World Bank) is mighty pleased that India tops the global remittances list.
It is remarkable that this $70 Bil grant exceeds India’s software exports figure ($65 Bil).
It is indeed the single best possible anti-dote to poverty that our socialist rulers can envisage. Why not create better opportunities for these folks at home who are essentially slaves abroad? That is a bridge too far for our visionaries.
“Billions from Coolies” is a life-line for other SAsian countries as well (Pak #7, Bangla #8 on the list).
What appears to be a bit sinister is that Bangladesh’s receipts declined year on year. It is possible that the lovely GCC nations are punishing Bangla via excessive deportations etc. in response to Awami League’s war against the Jamaatis. Since the strangulation of BNP/Jamaat is probably supported (instigated) by India, the least India can do is to try and make up for this loss of “revenue.”
Having received $70 billion in 2013, India has topped the list of countries receiving remittances from overseas workers, the World Bank said today.
The World Bank’s latest issue of the Migration and Development Brief,
said international migrants from developing countries are expected to
send $436 billion in remittances to their home countries this year
(2014).
In 2014, remittance flows to developing countries will see an
increase of 7.8 per cent over the 2013 volume of $404 billion, rising to
$516 billion in 2016.
Global remittances,
including those to high-income countries, are estimated at $581 billion
this year, from $542 billion in 2013, rising to $681 billion in 2016.
“Remittances have become a major component of the balance of payments
of nations. India led the chart of remittance flows, receiving $70
billion last year (2013), followed by China with $60 billion and the Philippines with $25 billion,” said Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank.
India had received $69 billion in remittances in 2012. Basu said there
was no doubt that these flows act as an antidote to poverty and promote
prosperity. In
India, remittances during 2013 were $70 billion, more than the $65
billion earned from the country’s flagship software services exports,
the World Bank said.
The depreciation of the Indian rupee during 2013 appears to have
attracted inflows through a surge in the deposits of non-resident
Indians rather than remittances, the World Bank said.
The bank
said growth in remittances to the South Asia region has slowed, rising
by a modest 2.3 per cent to USD 111 billion in 2013, compared with an
average annual increase of more than 13 per cent during the previous
three years.
The slowdown was driven by a marginal increase in
India of 1.7 percent in 2013, and a decline in Bangladesh of 2.4
percent, the bank said.”In Bangladesh, the fall in remittances stems
from a combination of factors, including fewer migrants finding jobs in
the GCC countries, more migrants returning from GCC countries due to
departures and deportations, and the appreciation of the Bangladeshi
taka against the US dollar,” the bank said.
Still, some rebound
is projected in the coming years, with remittances across the region
forecast to grow to USD 136 billion in 2016, the World Bank said.
In
addition to the top three, India, China and the Philippines, other main
receivers of remittances were Mexico (USD 22 billion), Nigeria (USD 21
billion), Egypt (USD 17 billion), Pakistan (USD 15 billion), Bangladesh
(USD 14 billion), Vietnam (USD 11 billion) and Ukraine (USD 10 billion).
In
terms of remittances as a share of GDP, the top recipients were
Tajikistan (52 percent), Kyrgyz Republic (31 percent), Nepal and Moldova
(both 25 percent), Samoa and Lesotho (both 23 percent), Armenia and
Haiti (both 21 percent), Liberia (20 percent) and Kosovo (17 percent).
….
regards
