NEW DELHI: Remittances to India, the world’s largest recipient of money sent by migrant workers, will grow by 4.2 per cent to US$65 billion (US$1 = RM4.23) in 2017, the World Bank said.
Last year India received US$62.7 billion in remittances, a decline of nine per cent due to weak global economic conditions.
Officially recorded remittances to developing countries were expected to grow by 4.8 per cent to US$450 billion this year after two consecutive years of decline, according to World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief published on Monday.
China is projected to receive US$61 billion, followed by the Philippines at US$33 billion, Mexico receiving a record US$31 billion and Nigeria’s share being US$22 billion.
Flows to Pakistan are expected to remain flat this year while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal would see a decline, the World Bank said.
Remittances to South Asia were expected to rise 1.1 per cent to US$112 billion this year, with the tepid growth being attributed to the impact of lower oil prices and labour nationalisation polices of the wealthy Arabian Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Top employers of foreign workers in the Gulf such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are hiring fewer workers from places like India and Pakistan due to an economic slowdown.
Remittances to the East Asia and Pacific region are expected to rebound by 4.4 per cent to US$128 billion in 2017, reversing a decline of 2.6 per cent in 2016, the World Bank said.
The report noted that the Philippines continued to receive healthy remittances despite declining inflows from Saudi Arabia, while remittances to Vietnam, largely coming from the United States, were also projected to recover this year.
It said fund flows to Indonesia would continue to shrink due to a government ban on female domestic workers going to the Middle East.
Overall global remittances, including fund flows to high-income countries, were projected to grow by 3.9 per cent to US$596 billion this year.
The figure is expected to rise 3.4 per cent to US$616 billion in 2018, said the World Bank. — Bernama