Wednesday 28 April 2010

MoneyGram International Adds Croatia to its Global Money Transfer Network

MINNEAPOLIS, Apr 28, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- MoneyGram International /quotes/comstock/13*!mgi/quotes/nls/mgi (MGI 3.30, -0.05, -1.46%) , a leading global money transfer company, announced its return to Croatia today as Volksbank added MoneyGram's services to 28 countrywide locations. MoneyGram's return to Croatia follows MoneyGram's alliance with Volksbank in Serbia in 2008 and the opening of 33 MoneyGram-owned retail locations in Germany since 2006.

"MoneyGram is pleased to be back in Croatia with Volksbank, providing the country's 4.5 million people a new choice and a better value for money transfer services," said Massimo Canovi, MoneyGram International's senior regional director for Southern Europe and the Balkans. "Volksbank is a leading financial institution across Southeastern Europe and has been a valued MoneyGram agent in Serbia since 2008. The Volksbank locations are available today to assist Croatians with their money transfer needs." Read more

Remittances, vital to Serbia GDP, grew in crisis

* Serbian remittances grew 10 pct in 2009 despite crisis
* Remittances vital to economies across region
By Aleksandar Vasovic
 
BELGRADE, April 28, (Reuters) - Foreign currency sent home by Serbians working abroad -- an important part of overall GDP in the Balkan country -- rose by 10 percent in 2009 despite the global financial downturn, an official said on Wednesday.
 
Last year, the roughly four million Serbians living abroad, mainly in the European Union, the United States and Australia, sent home about $5.5 billion, or about 15 percent of gross domestic, Srdjan Sreckovic, the diaspora minister told a panel discussion in Belgrade.
 
"Despite the International Monetary Fund's expectations that remittances to Eastern Europe would fall during the crisis, in Serbia they rose by 10 percent in 2009," Sreckovic said. Read more

Monday 26 April 2010

Remittance flows to developing countries remained resilient in 2009, expected to recover during 2010-11

We have just released Migration and Development Brief 12 reporting the latest estimates of remittance flows for 2008-09 and forecasts for 2010-11.  Officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries reached $316 billion in 2009, down 6 percent from $336 billion in 2008. With improved prospects for the global economy, remittance flows to developing countries are expected to increase at 6.2% in 2010 and 7.1% in 2011, a faster pace of recovery in 2010 than our earlier forecasts.

The decline in remittance flows to Latin America that began with the onset of financial crisis in the United States appears to have bottomed out since the last quarter of 2009. Remittance flows to South Asia (and to a smaller extent, East Asia) continued to grow in 2009 although at markedly slower pace than in the pre-crisis years. Flows to Europe & Central Asia and Middle-East and North Africa fell more than expected in 2009.

Read more

Tuesday 20 April 2010

GHANA: New trend in money transfers

Some Ghanaians living abroad have found other means of remitting money to their relations and friends back home without using the traditional money transfer agencies.

They have resorted to the use of electronic cards to remit because they find it more economical.

For instance, the money transfer agencies charge averagely US$10 to transfer funds between US$100 and US$500 to Ghana, while US$17 is charged for a transfer of above US$500.

However, it costs only US$2.0 to effect a transaction by using the electronic visa card, which is cheaper compared to the use of money transfer agency.

Private inward remittances to individuals in the country have been dropping over the last three years, which some financial analysts have attributed to the global financial crisis. Read more

Monday 19 April 2010

Remittances on the Rise in El Salvador

For the first time since October 2008, remittances from Salvadorans living abroad are on the rise. The Salvadoran Central Bank reports that Salvadorans in the U.S. and other countries sent family members $343.2 million in March 2010, up 8.7% from March 2009.  In the first quarter of 2010, remittances totaled $848.4 million, up 0.60% from the same period last year.

The Latin American Herald Tribune reports that 240,000 Salvadorans live and work under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and send money to their families back home. Another 2.25 million undocumented Salvadorans live and work in the U.S. and contribute to the family finances. Read more

Bangladesh Post Office introduces mobile money transfer April 19


Bangladesh Post Office launches mobile money transfer in the country on April 19 in a move aimed at revolutionising the country's money transfer system and thus providing the much-needed booster to the moribund postal department.
Initially on April 19, around 600 post offices in Dhaka and Chittagong divisions including those at the district and upazila levels will come under the network.
The post offices at the district and upazila levels of the two divisions and the key post offices will be brought under the network, said M Mobasherur Rahman, Director General of Bangladesh Post Office (BPO).
Read more

Indian expats' remittances up by over $1 billion

Remittances by Indian expatriates rose by over $1 billion to $27.51 billion (about 1,22,420 crore) during April-September 2009, unfazed by theglobal financial meltdown, a Reserve Bank of India [ Get Quote ] survey has said.

The remittances increased from $26.37 billion duringthe same period in the previous year, as India provided much better returns.

". . .inward remittances in India have not been impactedsignificantly by the global economic crisis," RBI said in its latest monthly bulletin.

It further said the rise in remittances may beattributed to a number of factors, including depreciation of rupee resulting in the rise in inflows through rupee denominated non-resident Indians' accounts to take advantage of the depreciation and hike in interest rate ceilings on NRI deposits since September 2008. Read more

Saudi Arabia and Qatar lead job creation in the Gulf

Expatriates are more likely to secure a new job in Saudi Arabia than in any other country in the GCC, according to the latest employment data released today by GulfTalent.com, the leading Middle East online recruitment firm.

The number of expatriate employees in the Kingdom rose by an estimated 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2009, followed by Qatar with a 2.2% increase. Oman also showed a marginal rise, with a 0.3% growth. Read more

Orascom's Bangladesh unit offers mobile remittance

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Bangladeshi unit of Egyptian operator Orascom Telecom said on Monday it is offering mobile remittance services to tap a large unbanked population.

Under the service, banks will offer mobile wallet accounts through Banglalink, the country's second largest mobile operator, Orascom said in a statement.

Dhaka Bank Eastern Bank partnered with Bangalink to offer the mobile remittance services, the southern Asian nation's first.

Remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas are key sources of foreign exchange for the impoverished south Asian country of 150 million people. Read more

MoneyGram International Brings Money Transfer Services to 930 Bank of China Branches in Guangdong Province

More than 1,150 Bank of China mainland locations offer MoneyGram services, nearly 9,000 more planned

MINNEAPOLIS, Apr 19, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- MoneyGram International, a leading global money transfer company, and Bank of China, a pillar of China's banking community and Global Fortune 500 Company, announced today the introduction of MoneyGram's services at 930 bank branches across Guangdong province, bringing MoneyGram's convenient and reliable money transfer services to more than 100 million residents across China's most populous province.

It is estimated that more than $25 billion in remittances--more than half of the total remittances sent into China, were received in Guangdong province in 2008, according to official estimates including reports by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau. Read more

PHILIPPINES: How do OFW families spend remittance money?

MANILA, Philippines—A study recently released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provides an informative and substantially probing picture of how families of overseas Filipino workers spend their remittance money.

The study, entitled "Remittances and Household Behavior in the Philippines," was conducted and written by Filipino Alvin Ang, Indian Shikha Jha, and Indonesian Guntur Sugiyarto based on their analysis of data from the 2000, 2003, and 2006 Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES) reports of the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The authors noted that some 18.05 percent of all Filipino households received cash from abroad in the year 2000, and this rose to 20.72 percent in 2003 and then to 23.3 percent in 2006. Read more

Sunday 18 April 2010

PHILIPPINES: OFWs now tax-exempt

New law scraps DST, travel tax, airport fee for migrant workers
By SHIANEE MAMANGLU
April 17, 2010, 7:54pm

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are now exempted from paying documentary stamp tax (DST) on their remittances as well as travel tax and airport fee.

This is contained in the amended Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act.

The law exempts migrant workers from the payment of travel tax, DST, and airport fee upon showing of proof of entitlement from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

“The remittances of all OFWs, upon showing the same proof of entitlement by the OFW beneficiary or recipient, shall be exempted from the payment of documentary stamp tax,’’ Section 22 of Republic Act 10022, stated. Read more

Saturday 17 April 2010

Armenia Sees Rise In Remittances

YEREVAN -- The vital cash remittances sent home by thousands of Armenians working abroad have increased this year after a sharp drop in 2009, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

Data released by the Central Bank of Armenia show a nearly 5 percent year-on-year increase in January-February 2010.

The total amount of such noncommercial cash transfers to Armenia through the banking system during that period was $119 million, up from $113.5 million reported in January-February 2009.

The figure is equivalent to 14 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Almost 76 percent of the cash transfers were from Russia, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Armenian migrant workers.

Remittances tumbled by over 31 percent to $1.12 billion last year as a result of the global financial crisis. That was one of the reasons why Armenia was hit particularly hard by the recession.

Its GDP contracted by as much as 14.4 percent in 2009 after a decade of robust growth.

Economic growth resumed in the first quarter of 2010 as economic conditions around the world, and in Russia in particular, began to improve. Source

Immigrant Remittances as a Source of Productivity

By Marcela Sanchez

In recent years Latin America has seen reduced inequality, a burgeoning middle class, and good economic governance that helped it recover from the latest recession sooner and better than others. But for all of its advances, the region still struggles to produce goods and deliver services more efficiently. In fact, over the last 40 years the region’s productivity growth has been dead last in the world.

There are many reasons for this productivity gap but top among them, according to a new book by the Inter-American Development Bank, is the lack of credit. Simply put, businesses that want to streamline and take advantage of new methodologies and technologies haven’t had access to the necessary financing to do so.

The recent recession has only exacerbated the problem. Total credit growth in the region dropped by more than three-fourths from 17% in 2008 to 4% in 2009. In terms of traditional mechanisms of investment, improved productivity in the near term does not look bright. Read more

Thursday 15 April 2010

Establishment of World Diaspora Fund in Geneva

The creation of this Fund is an initiative of the Working Group of the International Migrants Remittances Observatory for Least Developed Countries (IMRO, www.oitfm.org), in partnership with several public and private organizations. It’s also a part of the follow up of the recommendations of the Ministerial Conference of LDCs on enhancing the impact of remittances on development, hosted in Cotonou (Benin) in February 2006 by the Government of the Republic of Benin, with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Office of the United Nations High Representative for Least Developed Countries (UN-OHRLLS), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Norway, Ireland and the World Bank.

According to the World Bank, migrant remittances amount to an annual total of USD 300 billion according to the World Bank. But these remittances are sent to countries of origin for short-term (or emergency) assistance, in order to meet family needs (food, health and education for instance). A minor part of these funds contributes directly to the development of economic activities such as building houses or funding income generating activities. Read more

Morrocans residing abroad: Waiting for Political Representation


The socio-economic impact of the Moroccans residing abroad (MRA) on the Moroccan society is evident everywhere in the country. By being the number one source of hard currency, the immense effect of the MRE remittances on the Moroccan economy is undisputed.
However, MRA’s support of their immediate and extended families is by far the biggest achievements of the Moroccan Diaspora. Since the beginning of the Moroccan immigration to Europe in the sixties, the main reason behind the migration of young Moroccans was to help their relatives survive and thrive. Fifty years later with more than 4 millions Moroccans living in every corner of the world, the phenomenon of the immigrations is more at the core of the Moroccan society than ever.
Little and large, the sums of Dollars, Euros or Rials being sent by  MRA to their loved ones have a huge impact on the survival of millions of families in Morocco. Furthermore, the money  sent by Moroccans overseas have led to the start of thousands of small businesses, consequently creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for lower and middle class Morocco.
Many Moroccan families survive solely on the remittances received from their loved one residing “outside”, creating a social safety net outside the formal economy. Similarly, the jobs created through MRA’s remittances are helping reduce the unemployment rate, albeit modestly. In short, the MRAs are helping to strength the economy and to stabilize the socio-political impact of the economic stagnation on the poor and unemployed in Morocco.
 Read more

ROMANIA c/a deficit as remittances fall

BUCHAREST, April 13 (Reuters) - Romania's current account deficit widened by almost two thirds in the first two months of 2010 as remittances from workers based abroad fell, data showed on Tuesday.
The deficit, once Romania's main economic vulnerability and the reason it sought aid from the International Monetary Fund, gained 64.3 percent year-on-year to 754 million euros ($1.03 billion).

The external shortfall had narrowed significantly last year as the economy contracted by 7.1 percent.
This year's annual increase in January-February figures was due largely due to a 68.5 percent fall on the year in current transfers, which stood at 312 million euros, the central bank said.

Analysts said this meant lower remittances from Romanian workers abroad. One in ten Romanians have fled the country in recent years, seeking better living standards in the richer west, mainly in Italy and Spain.
Read more

PAKISTAN: CBE: FDI, remittances, exports fall in second quarter

BE: FDI, remittances, exports fall in second quarter


Building of headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt in Downtown



Foreign investment in Egypt fell by US$806 million in the second quarter of the current financial year, dropping to US$894 million from US$1.7 in the first quarter, according to a recent report issued by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). The decrease was attributed to drops in investment among US, EU and Arab investors.

The report also noted that remittances home sent by Egyptian expatriates fell from US$1.8 in the first quarter to US$1.7 in the second. Commodity exports, meanwhile, fell by 15.3 percent for the same period, the report stated, largely as a result of a 16.6-percent drop in Egypt's petroleum exports. Read more

Remittances to El Salvador Rise 8.7% in March

SAN SALVADOR – Remittances sent by Salvadorans living abroad – mostly in the United States – rose 8.7 percent in March, compared to the same month in 2009, to $343.2 million, El Salvador’s Central Bank reported.

“This is first positive rate observed since October 2008,” the Central Bank said.

Remittances last month were $27.2 million higher than in March 2009.

The increase in remittances was the result of the “positive influence of Holy Week,” the Central Bank said.

Remittances totaled $848.4 million in the January-March period, up 0.60 percent from the first quarter of 2009, “confirming the improving tendency,” the Central Bank’s economic research and statistics department said. Read more