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.