Wednesday 27 February 2008

Kenya: Future of Remittances from Abroad Uncertain

February 27, 2008: The fate of foreign exchange remittances from Kenyans abroad — a crucial economic revenue stream— hangs in the balance because of political uncertainty.

Although Central Bank figures show a month-on-month improvement in volumes from $41.4 million (Sh2.9 billion) in December before post-election violence broke out to $53.9 million (Sh3.7 billion) last month, analysts say foreign inflows were largely dependent on a speedy resolution of the political standoff.

The cash remittances have recently helped to stabilise the shilling’s exchange rate and provided a source of investment funds.
[Read more]

REMITTANCES TO FIJI DROP 27 PERCENT IN 2007

SUVA, Fiji (Fijilive, Feb. 6, 2008) – Remittances to Fiji have declined by 27.3 percent cumulative to November when compared with the same period in 2006, the Reserve Bank of Fiji says.

In the latest economic review, the RBF says this has contributed further to subdued consumption activity.

In 2006, remittances brought around FJ$350 million [US$231.7 million] in foreign exchange earnings. It is unclear what the remittance inflow is for 2007. [Read more]

Monday 25 February 2008

Vietnam: Overseas remittances estimated at US$5 billion

Overseas remittances to Vietnam are expected to increase by US$300 million this year to around US$5 billion, said an official from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

The flow of overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City alone is estimated at US$3.6 billion, an increase of US$600 million from 2006, said Nguyen Ngoc Lan, Deputy Director of the SBV’s Foreign Exchange Management Department.

Sacomrex, a foreign remittance service company under the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank (Sacombank), took the lead in attracting overseas remittances in the last 11 months, with US$840 million. The figure is expected to increase to US$930 million by the end of this year, 40 percent higher than 2006’s figure. Meanwhile, the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) also reported a 50-percent rise.

Saturday 23 February 2008

Ghanaians In Canada Asked To Invest Back Home

A technical adviser at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Sam Mensah, has appealed to Ghanaians resident abroad especially in Canada, to create investment protocols with various financial institutions in Ghana to enable them invest positively back home. He said, there are about 21 worldwide recognized financial institutions in Ghana that can help them create investment portfolios to enable them invest successfully in the country if they want to. [Read more]

Tuesday 19 February 2008

Citi Launches QuikRemit Remittance Service

Citi has announced the launch of QuikRemit, a "white-labeled, customizable and easy to integrate remittance platform with distribution and foreign exchange capabilities spanning more than 90 countries. QuikRemit enables banks, corporations, and money transfer organizations to offer their customers and employees a secure and compliant solution for international funds transfer."
[Read more]

Sunday 17 February 2008

Pakistan: Remittances Surge by 22.44% to $3.623bn during Jul-Jan

Amount includes $1.71m received through encashment and profit earned on FEBCs and FCBCs

Staff Report

KARACHI: Pakistan received $3.623 billion as workers’ remittances in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, showing an increase of $664.05 million or 22.44 percent over the same period of the last fiscal year.

The amount includes $1.71 million received through encashment and profit earned on Foreign Exchange Bearer Certificates (FEBCs) and Foreign Currency Bearer Certificates (FCBCs), the State Bank of Pakistan said here Saturday.

The inflow of remittances in the July-January period from USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman), UK and EU countries stood at $1.025 billion, $663.67 million, $593.57 million, $539.88 million, $262.88 million and $103.18 million, respectively, as compared to $768.01 million, $552.53 million, $443.87 million, $407.36 million, $247.86 million and $85.61 million, respectively, in the July-January 2006-07 period.[Read more]

Saturday 16 February 2008

Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers hits new record

MONEY sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) hit a fresh record last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday.

In a statement, the BSP said remittances coursed through banks increased 13.2 percent to $14.4 billion last year from P12.8 billion in 2006. It was also higher than the forecast $14.3 billion.

Remittances accounted for about 10 percent of the economy, as measured by the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

In December alone, the remittance volume reached $1.4 billion, the highest monthly level on record. The BSP said monthly remittances have been surpassing the billion-dollar level since May 2006.
[Read more]

Bangladesh: The remittance: A phenomenon of formal and informal market

Md Abdul Jabbar

Remittance market represents the total funds sent by individuals who are residents abroad to recipients through both formal (i.e., banking system) and informal i.e., "Hundi" channels. If Bangladesh achieves the goal of incentivising increasing use of the informal sector for sending remittances, the flows through the banking system would be $4.0 billion greater -- at around $10.0 billion within three years. Reducing transaction fees over three to five years to the IADB average target of 5.0%, which is not unreasonable given the lower starting point, would increase net formal sector remittances by more than $500 million per year.

Statistics indicates a remittance flow of about $6.50 billion in 2006, fully $3.70 billion of which came from the KSA, the UAE and the UK. These numbers are mere compilations of returns from the commercial banks of their remittance activity. The majority of the Bangladesh diaspora consist of unskilled labourers as is the ease within the Latin American countries, where the remitting community abroad consists overwhelmingly of poorly educated unskilled workers in low wage jobs in the US and Europe.[Read more]

Wednesday 13 February 2008

13 February 2008
Yemen ranked high among the top 10 countries in the Middle East and North Africa in receiving financial remittances from abroad last year, according to a report issued by the World Bank.

Financial remittances of Yemenis living abroad amounted to $1.300 billion in 2007, forming 6.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product for that year.

Total remittances from Yemeni emigrants during 2000-2007 exceeded $10 billion, whereas money sent by foreign workers living in Yemen to other countries amounted to $587 billion during the same period, according to the World Bank.

These remittances are a way of reducing poverty and supporting the economy, a fact which was confirmed by the World Bank in its report, said Taha al-Fosiel, economist at Sana'a University.

Bangladesh: Thoughts on increasing NRB remittances

Shaikh Abdul Hamid

Wage-earners abroad - send some more!
Remittances by non-resident Bangladeshis (NRB) through official channels hit $ 6.4 billion in 2007 as per the World Bank, and the caretaker government has shown keen interest in increasing that.

Right after the recent NRB conference in Dhaka interested NRBs held follow-up meetings to try to capitalise on the momentum generated. The march continues. The Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) organised a roundtable discussion on February 5 on increasing remittances from abroad.

A high-powered GOB team is expected to visit Saudi Arabia to explore the problems of Bangladeshi workers. The Daily Star published related back-to-back articles by two NRBs, Dewan Sadek Afzal ("Promoting NRB Investment" in the February 5 issue), and Halimur Rashid Khan ("Increasing Remittance from Non-Resident Bangladeshis" in the February 6 issue).

We hope that the policy prescriptions that follow from the BEI roundtable, the findings and recommendations that the GOB team brings back, and the prescriptions by others to increase NRB remittances will receive due consideration, careful evaluation, and coordinated, committed and resolute implementation by the GOB.
[Read more]

Global Money Exchange launches fast remittance

12/Feb/2008
Oman Daily Observer

Global Money Exchange Company (GMEC), one of the leading exchange companies in the Sultanate managed by the State Bank of Travancore, has launched an electronic remittance facility using National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT). Addressing a press conference to launch the fast remittance facility, A K Basu, General Manager — International Banking — of State Bank of Travancore (SBT), said that non-resident Indians (NRIs) in Oman could remit their funds to any of the 38,000 branches of 100 Indian banks spread across the country within a day. “The funds will be credited within 24 hours to the beneficiary’s account. The message goes electronically through the Reserve Bank of India gateway,” he noted.

Basu, who was on a short visit to Muscat, said that if the money cannot be credited to the beneficiary’s account, the fund will be returned to the remitter. GMEC levies RO 1.5 per transaction for availing the new remittance facility. Referring to the financial performance of GMEC, he said that the number of remittances from the exchange shot up from 102,455 in 2003 to 428,041 in 2007, while the remittance volumes soared from Rs 267 crore to Rs 1,349 crore during the period.

Domincan Republic’s remittances reach a record US$2.B in 2007

SANTO DOMINGO.- In 2007 money remittances to the Domincan Republic reached US$2.980 million, a record in the 10 years since the figures have been registered.

With a population of some 9 million and with 14 percent living abroad- around 1.5 million according to an Immigration Department estimate- to establish a remittances business in Dominican Republic should be a true "hit," though in the last few years "this work is in frank decay," said Dominican Currency Remittance Companies Association (Aderedi) president Freddy Ortiz.

However, this type of business has contributed to reduce poverty in the country, since rural areas receive nearly 40 percent, another 40 percent in the cities, while of the total, 60 percent go to lower class families.

New Remittance Service Between Philippines and UAE Launches Successfully

The new Mobile Remittance Service “payMAX” from paybox, a mobile payment enterprise solutions company based in Germany, and Lari Exchange, one of the oldest and largest money exchanges based in Abu Dhabi, was successfully launched on February 6, 2008. This alliance permits the expansion of the mobile Commerce Portfolio offered by paybox and positions Lari as a leading exchange house in the UAE.


payMAX is the first Mobile Remittance Service between the Middle East and the Philippines’ GCash (Globe Telecom) mobile wallet. The alliance combines paybox’s Mobiliser Platform with Lari’s Remittances experience and network.

Australia To Create Remittances Website

(Australia Government website)

AusAID, the Australian Agency for International Development, wants to create a website that will lower the cost of remittance payments between Australia, New Zealand and nations within the South Pacific.

AusAID says that official remittances are worth at least US$400 million to the Pacific region and that it wants to help to lower the cost of those funds transfers via a simple and low-cost website.

Philippines: Western Union, Globe tie up to launch remittance service

THE Western Union Company, Globe Telecom and its wholly-owned subsidiary, G-Xchange Inc., yesterday said they will join forces to introduce a cross-border mobile mo-ney transfer service supporting low-principal, high-frequency remittances.

Globe Telecom, a telecommunications provider, offers its GCash service with an “electronic wallet” feature that allows users to send and receive cash and make payments, including bill payments, donations and online purchases via texting.

Globe Telecom had more than 19 million subscribers as of the end of September 2007 and close to half a million active GCash users.

Remit to India

NRI remittances touched the magic figure of USD 24.1 billion in 2005-2006, making India the largest recipient of personal money transfers in the world. Remittances and flow of funds from migrant workers to India is a key resource in its emerging economy. Remittances from NRIs and the deposits maintained by them form a generous component (about 23%) of our external reserves.

A working report by the RBI on the cost of NRI remittances in May 2006 found that money flows are determined by the economic health in the host country. The dollars poured in from the Middle East workers in the 1980s, but the source of remittances has now shifted to the West, mainly the USA. This shift in source, says the study, has also meant that growth potential for remittance flows has now moved to traditionally high cost economies which will affect cost of NRI remittances.

Currently, the Middle East contributes to 35% of total inward remittances, followed by 30 to 35% from North America, 20% from Europe, and 10% from other regions. The global remittance market is estimated at $110 billion, including India-bound remittances of almost $11 billion. [Read more]

Monday 4 February 2008

Remittances could exceed $7b in 2008 in Bangladesh

Says Western Union senior official
Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Remittances could exceed US$7.0 billion in 2008, according to Anil Kapur, Western Union (WU) Managing Director for South Asia, as the number of Bangladeshis working abroad increases.Speaking to The Daily Star on a recent visit to Dhaka, Kapur said another reason for the increase was the move to send money through official channels rather than via 'hundi', unofficial networks for transferring cash.

According to official statistics, the country received nearly $6.0 billion as remittance from non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) last year and the contribution of such remittance to the gross domestic product (GDP) crossed 13 percent. [Read more]

Saturday 2 February 2008

Migrant Remittances: Revisited

Leila Rispens-Noel/MindaNews
Monday, 21 January 2008 20:32

GOUDA, The Netherlands (MindaNews/21 January) -- The World Bank began working on international migration and remittances issues with the publication of the Global Development Finance 2003. Chapter 7 was dedicated to remittances. The report captured an unprecedented interest from the financial sector, governments, and international organizations. Since then, migrant remittances had become a regular feature in many conferences and policy discussions on migration and development. In a way, remittances also effectively reversed the tone of the debates. Policy makers are now talking more about the positive contributions of migrants to development because of the money they send home.

Migrant remittances sent by an estimated 150 million migrants worldwide have been on top of policy agenda of the policy makers and became the subject of many studies and debates deliberately dissecting their positive and negative impact. Remittances in 2003 were estimated at US$ 200 billion, up from $155 billion in 2002.
[Read more]