WB sees remittances falling to developing nations: The News

WASHINGTON: The global recession is curbing income flows to developing countries from workers living abroad this year, with Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa hardest hit, the World Bank said Monday.

The World Bank projected remittance flows to developing countries would decline by 7.3 percent in 2009, to 304 billion dollars.

In 2008 remittance flows surged by 15 percent to 328 billion dollars.

Remittances slowed considerably in the fourth quarter last year, the development lender said in a report, after the global financial crisis accelerated following the collapse of Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers in September.

"Remittances are relatively resilient because, while new migration flows have declined, the number of migrants living overseas has been relatively unaffected by the crisis," it said.

The meltdown in the US real estate sector, the epicenter of the global crisis, was expected to reduce by 6.9 percent remittances for the Latin America and Caribbean region.

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Pakistan's 2008/09 remittances at record $7.8 bln: Reuters

KARACHI, July 10 (Reuters) - Pakistan received a record $7.811 billion in remittances from overseas nationals in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended on June 30, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Friday.

The amount, the highest ever in a financial year, was 21.08 percent higher than the $6.451 billion remitted in 2007/08, the central bank said in a statement.

The largest inflow of remittances during the year came from the United States, with $1.74 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates with $1.69 billion, the central bank said.

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Record remittances signal disaster: govt: The News

By Saad Hasan

KARACHI: A 23 per cent increase in remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis during last month could actually be a sign of increasing joblessness amid a global economic recession, top government officials warned.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Saturday reported that remittances had shot up to $739.43 million in March 2009 compared to $602.21m recorded in the same month of previous year.

“This could lead to a tsunami of jobless people approaching us,” Farooq Sattar, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, told The News. “It seems people who have lost work abroad are moving their capital back home.”

Even though, he said, there were no indications of any large number of expatriates returning but his ministry had already alerted the authorities about a possible ‘storm’. “I have written to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to apprise him in this regard.”

In its second quarterly economic review report, the SBP has also cautioned the government against too much reliance on remittances to meet the current account deficit.

Finance Adviser Shaukat Tarin was also skeptical about the record increase in remittances during a single month. “I fear these numbers indicate that people who have lost their jobs abroad might be transferring their belongings back to Pakistan,” he told newsmen earlier in the day.

During July-March 2008-09, remittances swelled to $5.65 billion from $4.7bn in the same period of previous year. Highest amount of $1.29 billion was received from the US, the global powerhouse where hundreds of thousands of people have been sacked in the past few months.

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BD remittances higher than Pakistan’s: The News

By Mansoor Ahmad

LAHORE: Worker remittances, which account for 4.2 per cent of the gross domestic product, are increasing, but are still low when compared with Bangladesh having less qualified low-wage workers around the world.

In Pakistan, remittances have increased almost seven-fold from $1.075 billion at the start of the century in 2000 to $7.025 billion in 2008 and are rising even when global recession is impacting remittances in some countries. According to recent data, Bangladeshis working outside their country sent home over $9 billion, 20 per cent higher than Pakistan.

Despite the increase in remittances, the money received through legal banking channels, the unofficial ‘hundi’ business is thriving in Pakistan. Operators of that illegal business have changed the way they conduct it. In some cases, they receive money from the expatriates in the host country and give them a code number. Their sub-office in Pakistan makes payment to the recipient on disclosure of the code number. As an additional safeguard, a copy of the identity card of the recipient is also obtained before making the payment.

Some of the operators are more cautious. They phone the recipient and inform him that they would deliver the money at home and ask him to keep a photo copy of his identity card. They never visit the recipient house at the scheduled time and date and go later and deliver the money.

The authorities, however, have adopted a lax attitude towards hundi operators. The business is on the rise as expatriate workers seem to have more confidence in hundi operators than the official channels which also charge less.

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Pakistan hopes to attract $5bn investment by expats: Daily Times

* Law to protect investments by overseas Pakistanis soon

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: A new law protecting investments by overseas Pakistanis may attract as much as $5 billion, Federal Minister Farooq Sattar said on Wednesday.

The minister said in an interview, “If the international corporate sector can get sovereign guarantees, then why not overseas Pakistanis. Once we introduce legislation – within the next four months – it will give them confidence.”

The minister said the investment was needed to revive the economy that had slumped last year after seven years of high growth. Last year, overseas investment dropped by a steep 38 percent.

Waqar Ahmed Khan, the minister for investments, had said in an interview last month, the government planned to raise $10 billion in foreign direct investment by December.

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Remittances up, capital outflow halts: Dawn

By Shahid Iqbal

KARACHI: Overseas Pakistani workers sent record remittances in December helping the country to minimise its trade and current account deficits.

The State Bank on Tuesday reported an inflow of $673.5 million in December 2008, setting a new record of highest inflow in a month. Last record was of $660.35 million in September 2008.

The inflow of December was 40.5 per cent higher than the inflow during the same month of last year. In December 2007, the country received $479.26 million.

The half year (July-Dec 2008) inflows of remittances were 19 per cent higher than the corresponding period of last year, encouraging the market to improve their trust on strength of the rupee.

‘The inflow of remittances is one of the key reasons for strengthening of rupee-dollar parity which now looks settled around Rs79.80 per dollar after a massive depreciation of rupee by 23 per cent during 2008,’ said Atif Ahmed, a currency dealer. During the last six months, the country received $3.640 billion against $3.066 billion of the six months of the preceding year. The monthly average during this period reached $606.67 million which was 18.7 per cent higher than the average of six months of previous year.

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Remittances rise to $2.34bn: The News

Wednesday, November 12, 2008By our correspondentKARACHI: Remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis continued to show a rising trend as $2.34 billion was received in the first four months (July-October) of the current fiscal year 2008-09, showing an increase of $264.5 million or 12.71 per cent over the same period of last year.

The amount of $2.34bn includes $0.16 million received through encashment and profit earned on Foreign Exchange Bearer Certificates (FEBCs) and Foreign Currency Bearer Certificates (FCBCs). Monthly average of remittances for the period comes to $586.50m as compared to $520.37m during the same period of the last fiscal year, registering a surge of 12.71 per cent.

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Remittances touch record $6.5bn: Dawn

By Shahid Iqbal

KARACHI, July 16: Pakistan received record remittances of about $6.5 billion during 2007-08 from overseas workers enabling the country to meet at least 50 per cent of the current account deficit.

The State Bank of Pakistan on Wednesday reported an inflow of $6.451 billion as workers' remittances, which was 17.4 per cent higher than the preceding year, an addition of $957 million recorded this year.

Analysts termed the 2007-08 as the difficult year, which received unprecedented help from the overseas Pakistanis to meet 50 per cent of current account deficit touching $12.9 billion in first 11 months of the previous year.

"The expected current account deficit is $14.5 to 15 billion for the year 2007-8, which means the remittances were 45 per cent of the entire current account deficit," said Mohammad Imran, research head at First Capital Equities.

The present government is now facing serious challenges to meet the widening current account deficits with rising oil prices in the world market.

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$6 billion remitted in eleven months: Dawn

KARACHI, June 16: Overseas Pakistanis remitted about $6 billion during the first eleven months (July-May) of the current fiscal year, showing an increase of 18.3 per cent over the same period last year.

The State Bank of Pakistan on Monday reported that remittances surged by $915.7 million at $5.903 billion during the period under review.

The monthly average remittances for the period came to $536.71 million as compared to $453.46 million in the corresponding period last year.

Pakistani workers remitted $584.75 million in May 2008, up $46.77 million or 8.69 per cent over $537.98 million sent in May 2007.

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US accounts for 27.7pc of July-March remittances: Dawn

By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, April 28: The United States continues to be the largest source of workers’ remittances accounting for 27.7 per cent of the total of almost $4,728.3 million sent by overseas Pakistanis during the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year.A document released by the Pakistan embassy in Washington showed that Pakistanis living in the US sent $1,312.3 million during this period.Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia are second on the list, sending $882 million or 18.6 per cent of total remittances.The UAE is third on the list. Pakistanis living there sent $793.6 million or 16.8 per cent of total remittances.Pakistanis in other Gulf Cooperation Council countries sent $704.2 million or 15 per cent. Those in Britain sent $334.8 million or 7 per cent.Pakistanis in rest of the world contributed $427.1 million or 9 per cent of the total.When oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the GCC countries are taken together the total remittances from these nations go up to $2,379.8 million or 50.3 per cent of the total.The oil rich countries along with the US accounted for more than three-fourth of the remittances in the same period.The current calendar year - 2008 has started on an encouraging note. Workers’ remittances amounted to $602.2 million in March – up by 15.7 per cent over the corresponding month of last year as well as the highest ever monthly inflows.The State Bank of Pakistan attributes this surge in remittances to the growing confidence of expatriate Pakistanis on the current and future prospects of the economy.During the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year, workers’ remittances stood at $ 4,728.3 million – up by 20.1 per cent over the same period last year.Pakistan received almost $5.5 billion remittances in the last fiscal year (2006-07) – 19.4 per cent more than the previous year. It has set a target of $6.2 billion for the current fiscal year.An increase of 20.1 per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year suggests that the remittances target is most likely to be achieved.Remittances grew by 27 per cent amounting to $1.31 billion from the US during the period under review. Remittances grew by 33.1 per cent and 31 per cent from the UAE and other GCC countries amounting to $793.6 million and $704.2 million, respectively.

Original Link: http://www.dawn.com/2008/04/29/ebr9.htm