Thursday 30 December 2010

Financial inclusion: A better tomorrow for all Indonesians

Imagine an Indonesia where the poor no longer struggle to set money aside and can accumulate savings as a cushion against unforeseen emergencies, and not run the risk of losing money through theft.
Imagine an Indonesia where people no longer having to resort to loan sharks to borrow money at exaggerated interest rates.
Imagine more than 4 million overseas migrant workers no longer repatriating their earning in cash when returning home but sending their earnings home electronically, without requiring their families to travel to a bank. Imagine millions of Indonesian children receiving education because their parents have access to the right kind of savings products; and imagine Indonesians who have never had a bank account climbing out of poverty and improving their livelihoods using a broad range of financial services.

Sunday 19 December 2010

GHANA: Remittances from Ghanaians abroad said to have helped in poverty reduction

Alhaji Muhammed Mumuni, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, on Friday said remittances from migrants had positively contributed to leveraging government policies, instituted to achieve poverty reduction and economic empowerment of the citizenry.
He said: “Remittances from migrants have recently begun to outstrip Official Development Assistance to many developing countries, with Ghana as one of the eloquent examples. Remittances from Ghanaians abroad have in recent times played a very significant role in creating diverse source of livelihoods and capital for many Ghanaian families.” 

Tuesday 14 December 2010

PHILIPPINES: OFW families turn to savings — BSP survey

More beneficiaries of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are turning to savings instead of buying houses and lots, appliances, and motor vehicles, a survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

BSP Deputy Gov. Diwa Guinigundo said the fourth quarter 2010 Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) showed an increase in the percentage of households with family members abroad that allocated portions of their remittances to savings and a decline in the percentage for those shifting to investments and other major purchases. Read more

Netherlands-Afghanistan Remittances Corridor Study (2009)

The study of the remittance corridor between the Netherlands and Afghanistan was conducted between July-October 2009 and was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The remittance corridor study followed the World Bank evaluation guidelines to construct a comprehensive overview of the flow of remittances traveling from Afghans resident in the Netherlands back to their families and communities of origin. The study involved a household survey that assessed the demographic characteristics of Afghans living in the Netherlands, documented the remittance-sending behaviours of respondents (in terms of frequency of remitting, average transfer value, most-used transfer channels, etc.), and migration histories of respondents.  In addition to the survey in the Netherlands, a similar survey was conducted among remittance recipients in Afghanistan to enable a better review of needs and constraints on both sides of the corridor. The study also involved a though assessment of the institutions, structures, and linkages within and between the financial sectors in the Netherlands and Afghanistan. The study culminated in the formulation of a series of recommendations for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding ways to bolster the use of formal remittance transfer channels, strengthen the financial sector in Afghanistan, and facilitate better exchange between financial agencies and institutions in the Netherlands and Afghanistan. Read more

Click here to view the report

Workers' remittances in the EU27 Money sent by migrants to their country of origin fell by 7% in 2009 Total transfers at 30 bn euro


In the EU27, money sent by migrants to their country of origin, usually referred to as workers' remittances1, had registered a constant increase over recent years. This trend has been interrupted by the economic crisis. Total EU27 outflows amounted to 30.3 billion euro in 2009, compared with 32.6 bn in 2008 (-7%). These figures include both intra-EU27 and extra-EU27 flows. The decrease in workers' remittances in 2009 compared with 2008 was almost the same for extra-EU27 flows (-7%) and for intra-EU27 flows (-6%). The share of extra-EU27remittances in the total stood at 73% in 2009, the same level as in 2008.

Friday 10 December 2010

Mobile Money Transfers APAC January 17-20 2010, Manila, Philippines

MMT APAC returns to the Philippines on Jan 17-20 and features a 2 day conference agenda packed with pioneering speakers, practical workshop sessions and a full day of site visits and live use cases hosted by Smart Communications and Globe Telecom.


More

West Africa Conference: Mobile Remittance - West Africa 2010

Mobile Remittance,West Africa 2010.

MobileMoneyAfrica cordially invite you to attend “Mobile Remittance, West Africa “, our First Money Money remittance Conference to be held in the Victoria Crown Plaza Hotel,Victoria Island – Lagos,Nigeria.
Date:15th – 16th,December,2010. 


http://mobilemoneyafrica.com/?page_id=2231

Thursday 9 December 2010

Migrant worker remittances reached US$5 billion

Total remittance garnered by Indonesia's more than 4 million migrant workers as of September reached US$5 billion, or around Rp 45 trillion.
There are now 4.32 million Indonesian workers overseas sending money back home, according to the central bank's release Thursday.

Bank Indonesia, the ministry of manpower and transmigration and the Placement and Protection of Overseas Labor (BNP2TKI) have been monitoring migrant workers placements since 2005.

The central bank said this was important to count the total flow of foreign exchange sent by TKI or remittances, which showed improvement over the last few years.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Peru remittances reached US$635 million in 3Q 2010

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010


Lima - Remittance flow sent by overseas Peruvians to their relatives in Peru reached US$ 635 million in the third quarter this year, Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCR) reported Monday. This figure is the highest of this year representing a 3.9 percent growth over the same period in 2009. So far this year, remittances have reached US$1.83 billion. During the third quarter, remittances channeled through banks jumped 8.1 percent from US$266 million in the same third quarter 2009 to US$288 million in the same period this year. Source

MEXICO: Remittances in Mexico Up 9.32% in August

MEXICO CITY – Remittances from Mexican emigrants totaled $1.95 billion in August, up 9.32 percent from the same month of 2009, the Mexican central bank said.

That figure, announced Friday by Banco de Mexico, topped the consensus market forecast of $1.86 billion, Mexican financial group Ixe said in a report. Read more

CHINA: Western Union account-based remittances to be offered in China

Chinese customers of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD Bank) will soon be able to use account-Based Money Transfer services provided by the Western Union Company.
Chinese accountholders of SPD Bank will be offered to send Western Union Money Transfers directly from their accounts via online banking or their mobile phones for cash payout at Western Union Agent locations in more than 200 countries and territories. 

Moreover, consumers across the globe will be able to send funds directly to SPD Bank accounts. SPD Bank accountholders will be able to access the funds via the Internet, ATMs and their mobile phones. Read more

ARMENIA: Remittances to Armenia drop 3% in January-October 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net - Remittances at the amount of $1101.2mln were received by physical persons in Armenia in January-October 2010.
According to the CBA monthly bulletin, the figure decreased by 3% ($38.6 million) compared to the same period in 2009.
The largest amount of remittances was received from Russia ($868.2 million), followed by the United States ($99.3 million) and United Arab Emirates $22.5 million). At the same time, remittances from Turkey amounted to $2103thous.
Besides, 4.7% drop was recorded in the amount of remittances from Armenia, totaling $580mln in January-October 2010 against $608.8mln during the same period of last year. 
The net cash inflow decreased by 1.4% during the reporting period, amounting to $687.2mln against $697mln in January-October 2009.

Bangladesh receives $946.989m remittances

DHAKA - Millions of Bangladeshis, living and working abroad, remitted home 945.989 million U.S. dollars in November, 2010 thanks largely to Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest Muslim festivals, observed in the last month, a central bank official said Tuesday.

Quoting provisional data, the Bangladesh Bank official, who asked to be unnamed, said, “The flow of inward remittances increased by nearly 2.50 percent in the last month against that in October due mainly to the biggest Muslim festival.” Read more

Indians abroad send more money home than others

New Delhi: With an amount of $55 billion, India continued to be the largest recipient of remittances in 2010. The figure has risen from $49.6 billion in 2009. The country also stands at the second position among countries with largest number of emigrants after Mexico, according to the World Bank's Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, reports Rema Nagarajan of the Economic Times. Read more

VIETNAM: Remittances to reach $7.3b

HA NOI — Overseas remittances have surged strongly this year and were expected to reach US$7.3 billion by year’s end, an increase of over 14 per cent over 2009, said State Bank of Viet Nam Governor Nguyen Van Giau.

The growth in this figure was considerable in comparison to other measures of foreign capital inflows, e.g., foreign direct investment or official development assistance, and had been increasing steadily in the past two weeks, Giau said, suggested that the increased inflows would help stabilise the foreign currency supplies and reserves, as well as the balance of payments. Read more

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Estimated $18 Billion/ Year Flows into US Via Remittances

Though immigrants often send money to family in other countries, that trend is a two-way street: US residents also boost the economy with financial help sent from family abroad.


That’s according to data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau, which for the first time asked residents of more than 50,000 households about the remittances they have sent and received over the past two years.

The Washington, D.C.-based organization Inter-American Dialogue, believes these are very conservative estimates, since according to its own calculations, which take into account a web of migration networks, the amount of money sent to the United States each year in remittances reaches $18 billion.
In any case, there is no doubt that the world’s largest economy not only sends money to other countries in the form of immigrants helping out their families, but U.S. residents also receive help from their loved ones abroad. Read more

PHILIPPINES: A safer and cheaper way to send home money


MANILA, Philippines – The Yuletide season is an opportune time to remember all Filipinos toiling overseas for the future of their families and their country.
Their ever-increasing remittances have been a source of resiliency for the Philippine economy.
Migrant Filipinos send more money than usual to their families during the Christmas season so their loved ones could fully enjoy their Yuletide celebration.
Just before the holidays last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas signed an agreement with the Association of Bank Remittance Officers, Inc. (ABROI), the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB), and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) to enable their members to course the money transfers of OFWs through the BSP’s electronic and settlement system. Read more

Remittance fees to Pacific countries higher than global averages says report


A new report says the average cost of remitting to the Pacific is significantly higher than global averages.
Fiji Live reports that according to the report called "Trends in Remittance Fees and Charges" prepared by Australia and New Zealand, this is a challenge to the Pacific’s primary remittances policy.
It says the average cost of sending remittances to Pacific Island Countries is 21.7 percent of the amount remitted when sent from Australia, and 15.2 per cent when sent from New Zealand.
It says it is estimated that remitters to the Pacific pay at least 90 million US dollars in remittance fees each year. Read more

Sunday 5 December 2010

NIGERIA: Microfinance banks show interest in building project

No fewer than 96 microfinance banks have expressed interest in participating in the IFAD-assisted Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN) in Nigeria.
The national coordinator of the programme, Musibau Azeez, made the announcement on Monday in Abuja, when he led the supervision mission team of the programme on a courtesy visit to Bukar Tijani, the national coordinator, National Programme for Agriculture and Food Security.

The Federal Government in May 2006 approved the blueprint for RUFIN, and in August 2008 signed a loan agreement with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), amounting to 27.2 million dollars, for the implementation of the programme over a seven-year period.

BANGLADESH: Luup And ITCL Launch Q-Cash Mobile

With 26 member banks and largest ATM network of end-user access points as well as over 10,000 post offices branches across Bangladesh, IT Consultants Limited (ITCL) offers crucial payment services to over 100 million people via its hub. Now, ITCL has partnered with mobile payments solutions provider Luup to mobile- enable all services and establish the largest Mobile Payments Hub in Bangladesh.

Many Bangladeshi migrants are working in other countries, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which hosts more than 3.5 million Bangladeshi expatriates. Thus the new hub will offer a convenient solution for receiving and distributing remittances to Bangladesh from the GCC, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The sheer volume of money access points provides a cost effective cash-out network for inbound remittances. Many of these transfers will have been made from money credited via payroll payments directly onto the mobile phone of migrant workers – thus providing them with seamless, cost effective payments corridors.  Read more

Nepal urges IOM to channel remittances towards development interests of LDCs

Ambassador Dr. Dinesh Bhattarai, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations and other International Organisations, on Tuesday described the migration as the defining feature of the 21st century and effective engine for change.  

As global remittance is expected to reach $325 billion in 2010, which is almost three times higher than the average annual flow of ODA, he called upon the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) - migration agency based in Geneva - to come forward in assessing the ways and means of sustaining the flow of remittances in times of economic crisis, channelling remittances towards productive investment and advancing trade and development interests of least developed countries (LDCs). 
Read more

SOUTH AFRICA: Proletariat will now be able to bank at night

JOHANNESBURG - UBank, a workers bank formerly known as Teba, said its partnership with Blue Label Telecoms will help the mining proletariat to cut the pre-transactional costs involved in accessing a bank branch and allow the working class to send remittances home even when the bank branches were closed.
UBank's CE Mark Williams said workers did not have enough time to access a bank branch as they went underground in the morning and by the time they came out of the mine shaft banks  would already be closed. Read more

KENYA: Equity links up with Essar for diaspora cash transfer

Equity Bank has signed a deal with mobile phone firm Essar allowing its account holders to receive international remittances through the yuCash transfer system.
It is banking on an international money transfer infrastructure provider Obopay which also powers the yuCash system to tap into the market as it widens its net on mobile banking. Read more

Wednesday 24 November 2010

LEBANON: Debt burden overshadows strength in Lebanese remittances, financial sector

Last month Moody’s noted in regards to Lebanon that “deep structural challenges” (namely high public debt which hampers the scope for productive, public spending; see graph) continue to limit the economy’s longer term potential, though it riterated that a “robust level of external liquidity, a resilient bank deposit base, the government’s strong track record of debt servicing, and the country’s proven ability to mobilize donor support” underpinned its B1 rating for foreign and local currency government debt (raised from B2 last April).  Read more

Sunday 21 November 2010

Burundi: Country Gets New Money Transfer Service

Bujumbura — Econet, a locally registered mobile and wireless voice and data provider, that started operations in Burundi in March last year, has launched a money wire transfer upgrade that will make it possible to transfer money between the different telephone networks in Burundi. This was revealed in a press conference in Bujumbura last week.

"We are continuing to fulfill the promise we made at our launch in March last year. We are unveiling another first," said Econet's MD, Mr. Darlington Mandivenga. Read more

World Bank: Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, second edition

Please download the new report here

Top ten remittance receiving countries (developing countries) in US$ billion (2010e)

India - 55.0 bn
China - 51.0 bn
Mexico - 22.6 bn
Philippines - 21.3 bn
Bangladesh - 11.1 bn
Nigeria - 10.0 bn
Pakistan - 9.4 bn
Lebanon - 8.2 bn
Egypt - 7.7 bn
Vietnam - 7.2 bn

India To Receive $55 Billion Remittances In 2010

DUBAI – Indian expatriates are expected to remit about $55 billion into the country this year as the number of emigrants from the nation is likely to clock 11.4 million, a new World Bank report said. India is likely to stay as the top receiver of remittances in 2010, as inflows of $51 billion to China keeps it a place down, with Mexico at third spot, expecting $22.6 billion from its overseas population.

The World Bank in its ‘Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011′ report said worldwide inflows are expected to reach $440 billion by the year end, with remittances to developing nations are likely to reach a record $325 billion from the 2009 figure of $307 billion. Read more

MEXICO: How important are remittances to Mexico’s economy?

There are millions of Mexican workers in the USA who send a sizable portion of their wages back to their families in Mexico. On a per person basis, Mexico receives more worker remittances than any other major country in the world.

An estimated 20% of Mexican residents regularly receive some financial support from workers abroad. Such remittances are the mainstay of the economies of many Mexican communities, such as many rural areas in Durango, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Jalisco and Michoacán. Studies suggest that the funds sent as remittances are mostly spent on housing, food, clothing and durable consumer goods. A growing portion is being invested in education and small businesses. The corollary is that only a small percentage goes towards savings. Read more

Saturday 20 November 2010

PHILIPPINES: More OFWs using online remittance systems

By Anna Valmero, loQal.ph
For Yahoo! Southeast Asia

MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA – From the door-to-door money transfers highly common during the 1980s and 1990s, more overseas Filipino workers nowadays are sending remittances using the Internet.

A Web-based remittance service is designed to cater to busy, Internet-savvy OFWs who prefer the convenience of sending money quickly and safely from the comfort of their homes abroad without going to money transfer centers.

Up to this day, the remittance delivery market is “highly fragmented” with a lot of players but charges per transaction remain high and there are limited options how beneficiaries will get the money, according to said Timothy Fanning, chief operating officer of Ria Financial Services.

Traditionally, families of OFWs get the money through door-to-door services or by going to a remittance center such as a local bank or pawnshop. Read more

PHILIPPINES: Asia's Social, Mobile Media Trend Setter

While the rest of the Asia and the world are getting fascinated over the power of mobile remittances, Filipinos are yawning over it, probably wondering what makes a service that's available in every urban and rural sari-sari stores in the country is so special. Read more

INDIA: Making foreign remittances easier

Besides service fee, there is a currency conversion charge

With the number of Indians working abroad rising fast, remittances have become a part of life for many families. According to the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook, 2011, India is set to receive the highest remittances in the world this year.

No wonder money transfer agencies (MTAs) such as Western Union and Money Gram are advertising big time and tying up with leading banks, including State Bank of India (SBI). But there are other options for transferring money as well.
SWIFT transfers
These are through the SWIFT network – a system for international inter-bank fund transfers.

Most banks do not cap the amount an individual can send. The number of transactions per year is also not restricted. However, there may be a threshold limit, usually $100-500. Read more

PHILIPPINES: MoneyGram International signs Cebuana Lhuillier Financial Services as direct agent in PH

MANILA, Nov 18, 2010 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) --
MoneyGram International (NYSE: MGI | PowerRating), a leading global money transfer company, on Thursday announced Cebuana Lhuillier Services Corporation (CLSC) as a direct agent in the Philippines .

More than 1,200 Cebuana Lhuillier branches offer MoneyGram?s service nationwide through its Cebuana Pera Padala remittance service. Cebuana Lhuillier has been MoneyGram?s sub-agent for five years prior to this direct agent partnership. Read more

PHILIPPINES: Aquino, OFW money drive investor confidence

Investor confidence in the Philippines reached an all-time high this quarter, driven by perception that the Aquino administration would be able to sustain a strong economy on increasing remittances by Filipinos abroad.

The confidence index hit an all-time high of 50.6 percent this fourth quarter from 45 percent in the third quarter, BSP Economic Statistics director Rosabel Guerrero said in a briefing Thursday, citing results of central bank’s quarterly Business Expectations Survey. Read more

Western banks seek to gain stronger foothold in Africa

Africa's financial market is becoming more interesting to international banks and financial service providers as mobile phone usage increases. Further investment could change the dynamics of the remittance market.

The increase in mobile technology and telecommunications in Africa is attracting international banks and financial service providers to fuel investments. According to a British think tank on international development and humanitarian issues, the Overseas Development Institute, Africa has offered higher profits for multinational companies compared to the rest of the world for more than a decade.

There is emerging evidence that multinational businesses are seeking a greater stake in Africa, especially in financial services. Banks are responding to a growing demand for loans or investment accounts since Africans at home and abroad have started looking for more structured ways to do business.

Even remittances, money sent home by Africans living abroad, are beginning to recover in the aftermath of the global economic crisis. Remittances expert and head of the consultancy Developing Markets Associates, Leon Isaacs, told Deutsche Welle that the mobile phone and internet revolution makes market access in Africa possible. Any African who has a phone knows how to use it, but most of them do not have a bank account. Read more

Kenyan Remittances Rose 13% in September, Country's Central Bank Says

Kenyans living abroad sent home 13 percent more funds in September than a month earlier, the Central Bank of Kenya said.

Remittances totaled $58.6 million compared with $52 million a month earlier, research director Charles Koori said in a statement on the bank’s website today in Nairobi, the capital. Cumulative remittances during the nine months through September climbed 22 percent to $461.4 million from a year earlier, he said.

“The source markets for remittances have on average maintained the same shares, with North America contributing 53 percent and Europe 26 percent of total remittances to Kenya in September 2010, from the survey,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Johnstone Ole Turana in Nairobi via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Saturday 23 October 2010

WB Urges African Governments, Financial Institutions to Leverage Development Impact of Remittances

The FINANCIAL -- Remittances to sub-Saharan Africa exceed US$21 billion and are forecast to grow by almost 2 percent in 2010 despite a weak global economy, according to World Bank estimates on remittances flows.

A recent Bank survey for Kenya estimates that 14 percent of adult Kenyans regularly receive an average of US$735 in remittances from abroad a year. This amount is remitted in seven transactions amounting to US$105 each, according to the survey for Kenya, which was launched today at a joint conference by the World Bank and the Central Bank of Kenya in Nairobi. Read more

AFRICA: Remittances to sub-Saharan Africa exceed US$21 billion

Remittances to sub-Saharan Africa exceed US$21 billion and are forecast to grow by almost two percent in 2010 despite a weak global economy, said the World Bank.

The Bank stated in a press release issued on Tuesday, urging governments and remittance service providers to cooperate and reach out to each other to enhance the development impact of remittances for Africa.

“A recent Bank survey for Kenya estimates that 14 percent of adult Kenyans regularly receive an average of US$735 in remittances from abroad a year. This amount is remitted in seven transactions amounting to US$105 each, according to the survey for Kenya, which was launched today at a joint conference by the World Bank and the Central Bank of Kenya in Nairobi. Read more

AFRICA: Remittances to Africa edging up, lagging other regions

NAIROBI – Remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa will rise modestly this year despite a sluggish world economy, but its share of such monies trails those of other developing regions, a World Bank official has said.

Funds sent home to the region by citizens living abroad “exceed US$21 billion and are forecast to grow by almost two per cent in 2010 despite a weak global economy”, said a World Bank study launched jointly with Kenya’s central bank.

Remittance flows represent a significant share of gross domestic product (GDP) for many African countries, but “in global terms it is not as high as other regions”, Benjamin Musuku, head of the World Bank’s Future of African Remittances programme, told Reuters after a news conference.
He noted that remittances to Mexico alone were roughly the same as those received by the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. Read more

Remittances buoy small Pacific economies

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Pacific Scoop, Oct. 14, 2010) – University researchers and Pacific Island people alike are claiming that not all Pacific Islands are as vulnerable as they may seem.

Geoff Bertram, senior economics lecturer at Victoria University and an authority on small Pacific Island societies, says that the situation in the Pacific Islands is not as bad as people seem to think.

"On the whole, the Pacific is in a good state," he says.

This is because of remittances – relatives in other countries supporting their families back home.

Dr. Melani Anae, senior lecturer in Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland, says this system is working well for Pacific nations such as Samoa and Tonga, to keep up the standard of living. Read more

Ghanaians Abroad Should Be Allowed To Vote

The majority of respondents in a survey on the review of the 1992 Constitution, have endorsed the granting of voting rights in national elections to Ghanaians living or working abroad.

They indicated that such an amendment would enhance the decision making process among the citizens living abroad and enhance their remittances, which is of significance to Ghana’s economy.
Read more

INDIA: Mobile financial services for poor

As mobile penetration increases in India, it’s inevitable that it spreads economic wellbeing. Now that money transfers, payments and banking can take place over the device, financial services are available to anyone with a mobile. Telecom operators, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Mobile Payment Forum of India and the Unique Identification Authority of India have taken several initiatives to expand financial inclusion. Read more

BANGLADESH: Fair contest in remittance transfer demanded

Speakers at a dialogue underscored the need for a liberalised regime for facilitating the transfer of migrants' remittances. They observed that a few multinational money transfer agencies are enjoying near monopoly control on local banks with which they have relationships through exclusivity clause. They demanded termination of such clause for facilitating increased inflow of remittances into the country. Agreeing, in principle, with the above position the Governor of Bangladesh Bank stated that the absence of competition law in the country has led to such undesirable situation. The Governor informed that a review will be conducted by the central back in this regard.

Speaking as the Chief Guest Dr. Atiur Rahman also said that the introduction of new technology in remittance transfer has had a significant impact on the volume of remittance to the country. He urged the private and public sector banks to collaborate with one another to provide best possible services to remitter and their families at the minimum possible cost. The Governor also urged the banks to develop investment products for returnee migrants under their Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) scheme. Read more

KENYA: Billions received as diaspora remittances increase

NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Kenya received U.S. $1.9 billion dollars in remittances from the Diaspora over the past year according to a World Bank-sponsored study.

The study which was released in Nairobi on Tuesday Diaspora remittances have grown steadily over the last five years, providing support for Kenyans with relatives working abroad, while also boosting the country’s real estate and stock market.

The World Bank study says about 2.6 million Kenyans or 14 per cent of the adult population regularly receive an average of U.S. $750 dollars a year from their relatives residing abroad.
Read more

Friday 15 October 2010

PHILIPPINES: Globe launches ATM card for OFW remittances

MANILA, Philippines—G-Xchange Inc. (GXI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom, has launched an automated teller machine (ATM) card that makes it easier for Filipinos to receive remittances from their relatives and other loved ones abroad.

The GCASH Card, which is an ATM card linked to an electronic wallet, allows holders to withdraw remittances from the estimated 9,000 automated teller machines of Bancnet, Megalink, ExpressNet, and Encash nationwide. Read more

Pakistan remittances grow by 13.5pc in first quarter

KARACHI: Remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis registered a growth of 13.5 percent to reach $2.646 billion during the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year, spokesman for the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Monday.

Syed Wasimuddin, Chief Spokesman, State Bank of Pakistan, said that the flow of remittances continued to show a rising trend as an increased amount of $314.8 million was received during the quarter against $2.331 billion during the same quarter last year. Read more

Thursday 7 October 2010

GHANA: Ecobank Launches Instant Money Transfer

ECOBANK Ghana, a member of the Pan African Banking group has launched the first intra-African money transfer across 30 countries and beyond.

The Ecobank Rapid Transfer is an instant money transfer product which provides fast, convenient and a reliable way to transfer money across and within countries where Ecobank is present.

Speaking at the launch, the First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Kofi Wampah, said remittances had become an important ingredient in the growth prospects of developing countries and also had the potential as a developmental tool. Read more

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Remittances to Colombia drop 10.5%

Remittances sent from Colombians abroad dropped 10.5 percent in the first six months of 2010, according to a report by Colombia's central bank.

Colombians receive the most money from familiy members living in Spain and United States, and the drop in remittances is attributed to financial crises in both countries. Currently 7.5 percent of Colombian earnings are attributed to remittances, according to the bank.

The total number of remittances received reached $1.87 billion, meaning a decrease of around $220 million as compared to last year.

According to the report, the departments in the Coffee Region are the most dependent on money sent from abroad due to their unemployment rates. The unemployment rate in Pereira is 21.3 perecent, and is 17 percent in both Manizales and Armenia. The national urban unemployment rate is 12.2 percent. Source

SOMALIA: Why 'Hawala' Firms Are Crucial to Rebuilding the Economy

Nairobi — Somalia's crippled financial system faces severe challenges even as the country struggles to emerge from two decades of conflict.

Peace-building and reconstruction work will cost billions of dollars. The question of how this is to be paid for is crucial. Though Somalia potentially has sufficient natural resources, these are yet to be developed and the current level of funding for the Transitional Federal Government does not inspire confidence that the international community is keen to foot the bill. Read more

PHILIPPINES: Banco de Oro expands remittance network

MANILA, Philippines - Wells Fargo & Co. and Banco De Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO) has forged a money transfer or remittance alliance designed to make it easier and faster to receive remittances from overseas Filipinos.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo is known for its ExpressSend money transfer service while BDO has BDO Remit as its remittance service brand.

With the team-up, Wells Fargo account holders can send remittances to beneficiaries in the Philippines through a Credit to BDO account (in pesos) or via Cash Pick up Anywhere at BDO’s nearly 2,700 remittance pick up locations all over the Philippines. Read more

Monday 4 October 2010

GHANA: Mid-Year Remittances Reach $4.2bn

GHANA’s MID-year remittances from January to May this year hit $4.2 billion outstripping foreign direct investment and development assistance put together.

Kofi Wampah, first Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, who made this known referring to a recent Bank of Ghana report on the balance of payments position of the country, said the figure represented a 22.2 percent increase over what pertained in the same period of 2009.

Read more

ZIMBABWE: Govt Urged to Exploit Diaspora Remittances

Zimbabwe should exploit remittances of its people living and working outside the country to enhance their contribution to the economic recovery, renowned labour economist Dr Godfrey Kanyenze has said.

Dr Kanyenze made the remark in his presentation at the Just Business conference last week organised by the US Embassy and the American Business Association of Zimbabwe to promote trade between the US and Zimbabwe. Read more

INDIA: Rupee climbs to 12 against dirham

Expatriate remittances from the UAE to India has slowed down as the Indian currency has appreciated substantially due to widening interest rate difference between India, US, Europe and other countries.

Money exchanges in the UAE, which are normally active during the early month salary days, are seeing a considerable decline in business as the Indian rupee and UAE dirhams exchange rate fell to Rs12 on Sunday. Read more

Kenya woos diaspora to invest at home

Kenya is missing out on a potentially huge investment cash inflow from its nationals abroad who do not get information on opportunities in the country, a new government commissioned study has established.

Preliminary results from a study by the International Organisation for Migration for the government found that about 60 per cent of Kenyans living in the UK do not get information on how they can invest their money locally.

This is despite the group having significant financial muscle, as evidenced by millions of dollars in remittances that the group sends to friends and relatives back home every month.

Read more

SOMALIA: Without the diaspora, the private sector would fold

Somalia has been engulfed in civil war for 20 years, resulting in the collapse of central state institutions, the destruction of social and economic infrastructure and massive internal and external migration.


However, despite the absence of a state and its financial, economic and social institutions, the traditional Somali spirit of entrepreneurship remains strong and the private sector resilient and robust.

Indeed, the private sector has managed to grow impressively, particularly in the areas of trade, commerce, transport, remittance services and telecommunications, as well as in the primary sectors, notably in livestock, agriculture and fisheries. Read more

FIJI ISLANDS:

Around $300 million was brought into the country in 2006 in remittances and this has been used to pull people out of poverty.

That is the sentiment of leading economist, Professor Warden Narsey while launching the preliminary report on Poverty and household income in Fiji in 2008-2009.

Professor said that such huge amounts of remittances have strongly counter balanced the impact of declining Gross Domestic Product per capita for Fiji and therefore should not be overlooked.

Read more

Wednesday 29 September 2010

Mobile Money for Zimbabwean Mobile Users to Launch in November

Mobile money is finally a reality for Zimbabweans in the diasporas. After six years in the cooking pot, as we would say in Zimbabwe, mikemusa Ltd is being launched this November. We’ve been working hard on our user friendly customer interface and are finally ready to pilot the first ever mobile wallet based money transfer service open to any Zimbabwean with a cell phone. Read more

Western Union announces the introduction of the Account-Based Money Transfer (ABMT

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Sep 29, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Western Union (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, and State Bank of India (SBI), the largest commercial bank in India, today announced that SBI accountholders will soon be able to receive cross-border money transfers in their bank accounts using just their mobile phones.

In July, Western Union announced the introduction of the Account-Based Money Transfer (ABMT) service, to be launched in early 2011. This service will enable SBI customers with online bank accounts to pull a Western Union(R) Money Transfer(TM) directly into their accounts via the Internet or an ATM.

The new mobile service will provide SBI customers with an additional option to direct a Western Union Money Transfer into their accounts anytime and anywhere. Read more

Remittances to Mena region fall 8%

The World Bank has said that despite an 8% decline in remittance flows to the Middle East and North Africa region to $32bn (Dhs117.44bn) last year, from $34.8bn in 2008, figures are expected to bounce back 3.6% to $33.1bn this year, Emirates Business has reported. Remittances to the region are projected to increase further 4% next year to $34.4bn, according to the World Bank.
Source

Saturday 25 September 2010

Asia-Pacific region at UN forum calls for better protection of migrants

24 September 2010 – A United Nations meeting of Asia-Pacific countries today called for better legal protection of migrants, especially the millions who are undocumented migrants and often victims of human trafficking.

Migrant workers are development actors and contribute to development by way of remittances, skills, culture and labour to States of origin, transit and destination, said a statement issued at the end of a three-day meeting in Bangkok of representatives from 31 governments in the region.

Read more

Thursday 23 September 2010

CUBA: U.S. relatives could spur new Cuba businesses

(Reuters) - Rolando has very big plans for the little gym he runs informally out of a garage in Havana. First he wants to legalize it, then buy new equipment and - why not? - even build a sauna.

But in order to become one of the 250,000 new business owners Cuba has said it will approve, he needs start-up capital and, in a communist-led country short on financial services, that usually means turning to relatives in the United States, home to 1.5 million Cuban emigres.

"My cousin recently came from Miami and took pictures of the gym. He said I could count on him for whatever I needed. I think the time has come to call him and let him know it is time to expand the business," he said. Read more

Canadian mobile money venture Zoompass to offer international remittances

Enstream, the Canadian telco-led m-commerce joint venture is partnering with Western Union to deliver cross-border money transfer options to Zoompass mobile money users.

With the launch of the service later this year, Zoompass users in Canada will be able to send funds directly from their mobile wallets. Recipients will be able to pick up their cash at more than 380,000 Western Union Agent locations in 200 countries and territories.

Cross-border mobile-to-mobile transfers will also be available via Western Union alliance partners Globe Telecom and Smart Communications in the Philippines. Read more

Enabling international remittance services in Georgia

Archil Bakuradze is the chairman of the microfinance institution Crystal Fund. Here he discusses the “Reaching Georgia’s Rural Poor through Mobile Remittances” project, which is a joint effort of the Crystal Fund, Mobile Finance Eurasia and the microfinance organization Crystal and is funded by the Financial Facility for Remittances of the International Fund for Agriculture Development.


International remittances play an important role in the lives of people across the world, but in Georgia they are of major economic importance, accounting for 9% of the country’s GDP. According to various studies, about half of international remittances in Georgia go to rural areas.
Read more

Sensational Cases Expose Conditions Faced by Overseas Workers Throughout Asia

Last week, a Filipino woman working in Qatar as a maid gave birth on a flight from Bahrain to the Philippines, and then abandoned the child in the lavatory trash. She told officials she had become pregnant after being raped by her employer. Only a few weeks before, Sri Lankan physicians removed 24 nails and needles from a woman who had been working in Saudi Arabia. Saudi employers had hammered the nails into her body as punishment for complaining about her workload. She did not report the assault to Saudi officials for fear that her employers would prevent her from leaving.

Each year, inhabitants of the least-developed Asian countries pursue the economic benefits of overseas employment despite the high social cost at home and possibility of injury at the hands of employers abroad. Workers experience abuse along a spectrum, from being denied legal status and labor protections to enduring legally condoned and even legally abetted forms of physical and psychological abuse. Read more

EastNets to Showcase Mobile Remittance Solution at the Workers Remittances Business Day Hosted by SWIFT in Beijing

EastNets, a leading global provider of compliance and payments solutions and services, announced today that it will be showcasing its new mobile remittance solution at the upcoming Workers Remittances Business Day, hosted by SWIFT, on the 21st of September in Beijing, at the Beijing International Hotel.

EastNets new mobile remittance solution, en.MoRe, enables consumers with a simple mobile phone to transfer money from a mobile wallet to cash at a foreign bank more easily, cost-effectively and conveniently than with more traditional remittance approaches. The new solution targets the estimated 800 million migrant workers around the globe who send money to their friends and families on a regular basis.

en.MoRe is a technology platform and payment scheme to enable banks and mobile network operators to interoperate globally. The new solution is currently in pilot phase with aggressive plans to create a many-to-many network between mobile network operators in 10 sending countries and banks in 15 receiving countries by end of 2010.

"EastNets is delighted to be showcasing our new mobile remittance solution at the upcoming Workers Remittances Business Day," said Hazem Mulhim, CEO of EastNets. "With en.MoRe, financial institutions and mobile operators have a new platform to better serve their existing customers, and tap into this growing mobile remittances market by acquiring new customers who want to utilize this service."

en.MoRe will allow mobile network operators to connect to a single hub that is already linked via SWIFT to more than 8000 banks worldwide. EastNets is currently in the process of obtaining certification for the SWIFTReady Workers' Remittance Label with its en.MoRe solution.

Cash flowing to native lands

Delmy Aldana works two jobs — at a restaurant by day and the post office at night — to send hundreds of dollars a month to her native El Salvador. Half pays the mortgage on a house she built for her family, and the rest covers necessities for relatives, including a teenage son and 71-year-old mother she left behind.

“It’s really hard,’’ said Aldana, a 31-year-old Lynn resident. “The money I send my mother helps her to survive. What I send her pays her bills, the electricity, the water, the telephone. If I didn’t send money . . . I don’t know how she would manage.’’

Across the state, Aldana and other immigrants showed their enduring devotion to their loved ones last year by sending $1.8 billion home to more than 200 countries, according to the first full accounting of the cash that flows out of Massachusetts. The findings are based on a Globe review of annual reports that money-transfer companies such as MoneyGram and Western Union are required to file each year with the state. Read more

UAE Exchange announces launch of its MasterCard MoneySend service in UAE

UAE Exchange, the global remittance and foreign exchange brand based in the UAE, has recently announced the commencement of the MasterCard MoneySend service in the UAE market for outbound remittances to the Philippines.

MasterCard MoneySend is a person-to-person money transfer service that allows participating customer financial institutions to use the global network and card products of MasterCard to facilitate domestic and cross-border remittances. UAE Exchange will leverage the MasterCard MoneySend platform to offer cardholders a convenient and cost-effective way to send funds directly to the recipients' MasterCard debit or credit card in the Philippines so that they can withdraw cash from their nearest ATM; use directly for purchases at MasterCard merchant accepted locations; or pay their credit card bills back home. UAE Exchange will be offering this service in the UAE for outbound remittances to the Philippines through the extensive network of UAE Exchange which has over 85 branches across the country. Read more

KENYA: Fresh effort to market Kenya abroad

Fresh effort to market Kenya abroad

BY EVELYNE NJOROGE
Updated 1days 11 hours 35 minutes ago

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 21 - The Brand Kenya Board has entered into a partnership with the Kenya Overseas Business Alliance (KOBA) to promote the country as a top business and investment destination to citizens in the Diaspora and foreign investors.

The Board’s Chief Executive Officer Mary Kimonye said that through the partnership, they hope to achieve their mandate of improving Kenya’s image, visibility and competitiveness both locally and internationally.

“Our mandate is to provide for government an integrated mechanism of marketing the country. So we will partner with anybody who’s willing to work with us,” she said. Read more

Diaspora Nigerians remit $7bn as CBN releases N130bn to BoI for 317 projects

The Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) has disclosed that Diaspora Nigerians remitted over $7 billion in 2009, which represents 50 percent of the $14 billion globally remitted to Africa. Robert Orya, managing director, NEXIM, who made this known on Monday in Abuja at the 2010 Enterprise Exhibition and Business Forum, said the $14 billion global remittance in 2009 formed the highest source of foreign exchange into the continent. Read more

ROMANIA: Conservatives oppose 1 pct tax to be levied on Romanians abroad remittances

Conservatives are opposed to Democrat Liberal Party (PDL, at rule) deputy William Branza to levy a 1 percent tax on the remittances made by Romanians abroad, announced on Monday, in a press conference, Maria Grapini, Vice-president of the Conservative Party (PC, in opposition).

“We cannot agree with such a law representing in fact double taxation and it is not the sole example of Romanians being taxed several times. (…) We are opposed to it, we are going to organize public debates, we will attempt to discuss the matter with our allies in the Parliament, with the opposition parties – the National Liberal Party and the Social Democrat Party – so that this legislative initiative is not adopted”, said Grapini on Monday. Read more

Sri Lanka state bank in deal to boost remittances from Jordan

Sep 21, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's state-run National Savings Bank (NSB) has inked inked a deal with a financial partner in Jordan as part of a bid to expand its remittance business tenfold over two years, officials said.

NSB announced a deal with JRM Alami and Partners Exchange Company in Jordan Monday to help channel remittances of Sri Lankan expatriates in that country more easily.
Last year expatriate Sri Lankans working in the Middle East, Far East and Europe sent 3.3 billion dollars to the country officially.

"We are enjoying only 0.7 to 0.8 percent of this market," Predeep Kariyawasam, chairman of state owned NSB told reporters after announcing the link with JRM Alami. Read more

Bulgaria Benefits from Emigrants' Remittances More Than from EU Funds

The economic crisis has not triggered a mass return of Bulgarian emigrants to their homeland, according to a study conducted by the "Open Society" Institute presented Tuesday.

The monetary remittances made by emigrants have not decreased significantly either – in 2009, money transfers from Bulgarians living abroad amounted to EUR 1.2 B with a reduction of 15%, which is much smaller than the decrease in foreign investments. Read more

Monday 20 September 2010

GUYANA: Constrained dependence on official external financing

Role of official external financing

As a rule, small relatively poor open economies that are highly dependent on the production and export sale of low-value added primary products and/or other natural resources-based products that are not presently enjoying a secular boom in world commodities markets, end up in a situation where debt-led and capital inflows-led processes become the key drivers of economic growth. Guyana and most of the wider Caricom represent classic examples of these processes at work. However, to be in a position to cope with exogenous external economic shocks, the authorities in such countries are constrained to rely on official external financing as both a lender of first and last resort. This is needed to provide cover against the pitfalls of debt and capital inflows-led growth. Read more

SRI LANKA: Foreign earnings target US 4 b

Foreign earnings target US 4 b
Foreign remittances to Sri Lanka increased by 11 percent to US $ 1820 million in the second quarter of the year. This was at US $ 1602 in the corresponding period last year.

Foreign remittances are Sri Lanka's number one foreign exchange earner and the government hopes to achieve a record US $ 4 billion target this year. This was at US 3.3 billion last year.

Despite the global economic downturn last year, Sri Lanka recorded a sharp 15 percent increase in foreign employment, an official from Foreign Employment Bureau said. A record number of 134,670 Sri Lankan employees went overseas in the first six months of this year which is a 17,669 increase as against the first six months of the previous year.

Sri Lanka had provided the highest number of employees to Qatar which shows a 54 percent increase.

Lankan employees to South Korea have increased by 43 percent, Kuwait 18 percent and UAE 11 percent. Over 2,000 Sri Lankans ventured to South Korea in the first six months of this year and under new agreements the Bureau expects this number to increase by 12 percent.

Sri Lanka also expects a high quota of employment opportunities from Malaysia, Libya and Bahrain. - SS

Source

NEPAL: Remittance inflows Vital lifeline for rural poor

Remittances are the only means of survival for millions of poor households worldwide where money sent to beneficiary families enable them to afford not only the basic necessities of life which are otherwise lacking or inaccessible, but also a degree of economic empowerment. Research has corroborated that in addition to supporting domestic consumption, remittances have promoted investments in real assets including building schools and clinics, rather than formal sector financial instruments.

At the macro level, the use of remittances has helped to counter the effects of economic downturns such as political conflicts, financial crises and natural disasters, and contributed, to some extent, to the stability of recipient economies. Remittances also constitute a steady stream of foreign exchange that helps to stimulate economic growth in migrants’ countries of origin.

Read more

Sunday 19 September 2010

Toiling Far From Home for Philippine Dreams

MABINI, the Philippines — Mediterranean-inspired, pastel-colored houses dot the coast and hills of this rural town in the Philippines, dwarfing their traditional counterparts made of unpainted concrete blocks under roofs of corrugated zinc. The larger houses, barely inhabited, many of them empty, belong to overseas workers who plan to return here one day.

Kate Michele Mendoza, 12, above, is able to attend a private school in Mabini because her parents work in Italy.

Despite their absence, the workers have contributed money to help build roads, schools, water grids and other infrastructure usually handled by local governments. They pay for annual fiestas that were traditionally financed by municipalities, churches and local businesses. Thanks to their help, Mabini became a “first class” municipality last year in a government ranking of towns nationwide, leaping from “third class.”

In one village nicknamed Little Italy, where a quarter of the 1,200 residents are working in Italy, the overseas workers paid 20 percent of the cost to construct a public hall.

“We couldn’t have finished it without the O.F.W.’s,” the village head, Raymundo Magsino, 64, said in an interview inside the building, referring to “overseas Filipino workers.”

Remittances, which the government says have been rising sharply — from $7.6 billion in 2003 to $17.3 billion in 2009 — now account for more than 10 percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product. The payments are also the main factor driving the country’s recent economic growth, which would have otherwise remained stagnant.

But critics, including many overseas workers, say the government has developed an unhealthy dependence on the remittances, turning a blind eye to their social costs, especially divided families and the reliance on them to pay for services while failing to build a sound economy that produces good jobs at home.

About 15 percent of the 42,000 residents of Mabini, about 80 miles south of Manila, live overseas — typically working as maids, nurses or service workers — compared with an estimated national average of 10 percent.

One recent morning, Jocelyn Santia, 40, was packing her bags after two months of vacation here to return to her job as a housekeeper in Milan. She and her husband, who died six years ago, began working in Italy 20 years ago after being recruited by an employment agency.

Her grandparents and a brother raised her four children here, though the two eldest now attend college in Italy. Her sacrifice, she hoped, would yield good, white-collar jobs for her children. But with her departure — and yet another separation from her two younger children — looming before her, she expressed bitterness about having to leave her family.

“The economy is bad here, salaries are low,” she said. “It’s the fault of the government that so many Filipinos have to go abroad. If there were good jobs here, why would we ever think of going abroad?”

Nilo Villanueva, the mayor of Mabini, said he had often heard this criticism from overseas workers. Mr. Villanueva was elected in 2007 by campaigning in Italy and championing the interests of overseas workers. The mayor connected Little Italy to the water grid last year.

Yet, even as Mr. Villanueva has sought overseas workers’ investments in a feed mill and other projects, he said he worried about the town and country’s reliance on remittances. “Many people have become lazy now because they are overdependent on remittances,” he said.

He said the municipality not only counted on investment from its overseas workers, but also had become dependent on their earnings in less direct ways. Most overseas workers here, for example, send their children to private elementary schools, which have smaller class sizes and offer richer educational and extracurricular programs.

“They are helping the municipal government because we are spending less on public schools,” Mr. Villanueva said.

At the private Santa Fe Integrated School, which charges an annual tuition of $370, 80 percent of the 250 students are children of overseas workers. About half have both parents overseas and are being raised by relatives or housekeepers, said Louella D. de Leon, the principal. Read more

Thursday 16 September 2010

Romanian emigrants’ remittances – potential engine for economic rebound

According to a recent article in the Romanian media, Romania is among the top ten countries in the world to benefit from remittances. The International Agency for Source Country Information (IASCI), an Austrian non-governmental organization, has been conducting a project with the Soros Foundation focusing on the impact of migration on financial investments in Romania – the first study of this kind to be developed in a European Union country. The project, which will be finalized in November, aims to highlight the extent of Romanian migrants’ remittances and their impact on the development of their home country. Read more

I

SRI LANKA: The impact of remittances on financial development

Maria Soledad Martinez Peria

Remittances, funds received from migrants working abroad, to developing countries have grown dramatically in recent years from U.S. $3.3 billion in 1975 to close to U.S. $338 billion in 2008.

They have become the second largest source of external finance for developing countries after foreign direct investment (FDI) and represent about twice the amount of official aid received.

Relative to private capital flows, remittances tend to be stable and increase during periods of economic downturns and natural disasters. Read more

PHILIPPINES: Manulife cites insurance growth in RP due to remittances, new gov’t

By Alexander Villafania


MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA – Increased remittances from overseas Filipino workers and renewed optimism in the new Philippine government resulted in higher growth sales for insurance company Manulife Philippines in the second quarter of 2010.

The company also posted a 44 percent increase in the number of agents for this year, indicating increased sales potential by the company. The company now has 1,725 sales agents, up from 1,200 in 2009.

In a press briefing, Manulife Philippines President and CEO Indren Naidoo said the company generated 88 percent increase in weighted insurance sales for the second quarter over the same period last year. He noted a 71 percent growth year-to-date as of June 30 this year. Read more

MEXICO: Migrant Dollars Lag

Migrant remittances to the six northern Mexican border states showed a mixed record during the first half of 2010, according to figures from the official Bank of Mexico (Banxico) quoted in an El Paso newspaper. While Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua registered increases in comparison with the same period of 2009, the states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas all recorded decreases.

For the first six months of 2010, Chihuahua led the border pack in terms of migrant dollars received, registering the capture of $211.9 million. Still, the dollar total was only $200,000 more than the first semester of 2009’s remittances. Counting $131.3 million in remittances, Coahuila came in at the bottom of the list for the first six months of 2010.

Taken as a whole, the northern border region experienced a slight dip in remittances when comparing the first half of 2010 with the same months of 2009. Although about $1.023 billion was received last year, the number dropped to approximately $1.019 billion this year. Read more

Remittances to Vietnam: $7 Billion a Year

Financial remittances — better known as money being sent back to the home country — have dramatically changed the economic landscape of Vietnam in terms of poverty levels and development over the years.



The aftermath of the war had left Vietnam among the five poorest countries in the world, with 75 percent of the population living in poverty in 1984. With the help of financial remittances over the years, the poverty level had dramatically decreased to 37 percent in 1998 and later to 29 percent in 2002, according to the World Bank.



The support of financial remittances has had a heavy hand in the improved conditions in Vietnam, and the gradual increase in those remittances over the years has been attributed to a combination of key events, which include but are not limited to: the Vietnamese government launch of a renovation process (Đời Mới) in 1986, the U.S. lifting of the embargo against Vietnam in 1994, and Vietnam’s membership into the World Trade Organization in 2007. Read more

Wednesday 15 September 2010

Pakistan August Remittances From Overseas Workers $933 Million

KARACHI -(Dow Jones)- Pakistan received $933 million in remittances from overseas workers in August, the highest ever for a month, the central bank said Monday.

The previous high was $841.4 million in June.

In the July-August period--the first two months of the fiscal year which started July 1--remittances rose 13% from a year earlier to $1.72 billion, the State Bank of Pakistan said.

The central bank and the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis have undertaken a joint initiative to facilitate the flow of remittances through formal channels rather than illegal methods.

-By Haris Zamir, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; +91-11-43563311; anant.kala@dowjones.com

Source:

HAITI: After rough 2009, remittances on rise

BY MIMI WHITEFIELD AND NADEGE CHARLES

MWHITEFIELD@MIAMIHERALD.COM

After the Jan 12 earthquake in Haiti, Pierre Lopez doubled the amount he sends to his family in remittances.

Lopez, 49, a part-time hotel cleaner who lost his wife and 19-year-old daughter in the catastrophe, scrapes by on $400 every two weeks. He used to send $150 to his parents monthly. Now it's $300.

Fueled by a desire to help relatives, remittances to Haiti are expected to increase this year.
But recently these money flows have gone through a rough patch. Remittances to Latin American and Caribbean nations sank 12 percent as the U.S. and global economies hit the skids last year.


Read more:

Remittances to the Caribbean on the rise again — World Bank

WASHINGTON, USA (CMC) — After what was considered to be a "rough 2009", the World Bank says remittances are on the rise again in the Caribbean.

A briefing paper by the Washington-based financial institution said remittances "began to bottom out during the last quarter of 2009" and, as a result, "money transfers now appear to be on the rise" in Jamaica, Haiti and other places.

The briefing paper said remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean didn't fall as sharply as private capital flows to the region, as investors pulled out of emerging markets.
The bank said remittances to Latin American and Caribbean nations sank 12 per cent as the US and global economies "hit the skids" last year. Read more

Monday 13 September 2010

SWIFT: Workers' Remittances Business Day — Beijing

Bridging into a world of opportunities

Dear SWIFT member, It is our pleasure to cordially invite you to attend the Workers’ Remittances Business Day hosted by SWIFT in Beijing on Tuesday 21 September 2010.

At this exclusive gathering, you will hear from industry practitioners and SWIFT experts on the new perspectives in the workers’ remittances market and find out how your institution can turn these into new opportunities to reduce your operation cost, improve customer service and acquire new customers. Furthermore, we have arranged special interests roundtable meetings for you to have face-to-face discussions with your counterparties.

To register, please RSVP with elva.li@swift.com or call Vincent Yang at +86 13 91 02 57 332.

Sincerely,

Olivier Denis, Banking Market Manager, SWIFT
Alex Lee, Head of Payment Solutions, Asia Pacific, SWIFT

More info

Thursday 9 September 2010

BANGLADESH: Despair in Bangladeshi Migrant Workers: focus on 2009

Bangladeshi migrant workers have turned into a group of people who are blessings for this poor and small nation state in terms of remittance. On an average, 2,50,000 people annually (1995-2003) migrate to take up overseas employment migration to Middle East and South East Asia had been observed on short-term contract since independence. Read more

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh remittances up 2.4% to $957.9mn

Bangladesh received $957.9mn in remittances from workers overseas in August, up 2.4% from a year earlier, central bank data shows.

The income from more than 6mn workers overseas, a key source of foreign exchange for the cash-starved economy, hit $10.97bn in the 2009/10 fiscal year that ended in June, 13% above the previous year. The central bank expects remittances to reach $14bn this fiscal year as the global economy recovers from the downturn, although the number of Bangladeshis leaving for overseas jobs has decreased. Bangladesh sent 202,000 workers abroad during the first half of 2010, the lowest in four years, government figures show. Source