Migrants are major players in global market: World Bank Chief Economist

The Dollar Business Bureau India tops the list of remittance recipient countries in terms of value of remittances drawn from global migrant work force in 2014, says the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief report, released on Tuesday. Out of US$ 583 billion- total remittance value received in 2014, India received US$ 70 billion followed by China (US$ 64 bn), Philippines (US$ 28 bn), among others, added the report. The top five migrant destination countries continue to be the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to the report, the officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries were estimated to have reached US$ 436 billion in 2014, accounting to 4.4% year-on-year rise and is expected to reach US$ 440 billion (0.9% rise) in 2015. However, the remittance flows to the developing countries is projected to slow down in 2015 due to a weak economic outlook in remittance source countries, the report added. The remittance growth rates in 2015 are the slowest since the financial crisis period in 2008-09, says the report, adding that the number of international migrants will likely exceed 250 million in 2015 and their savings, remittances are also expected to grow. In line with the expected global recovery, the global remittance flows will grow by 4.1 % in 2016 (to US$ 610 billion) and further rise to US$ 636 billion in 2017. With this, the remittance flows to the developing countries are also expected to recover in 2016 (to US$ 459 billion) and rise to US$ 479 billion in 2017. On the leveraging of the remittance amounts for the financial growth, the report estimates that as much as US$ 100 billion in migrant savings could be raised annually by developing countries, with a reduction in remittance & migrant recruitment costs and mobilizing diaspora savings, generous contributions from migrants, the report added. Commenting on the same, Kaushik Basu, Chief Economist and senior Vice-President, World Bank, also says, "Israel and India have shown how macro liquidity crises can be managed by tapping into the wealth of diaspora communities.” Referring to the Mexican migrants boosting the construction sector, Tajikistan’s efforts to nearly double its consumption by using remittance money, the World Bank Chief Economist says that the ‘migrants and remittances are clearly major players in today's global economy.’  

This article was published on April 14, 2015.