For the second year in a row, Bangladesh has ranked seventh among the top 10 countries receiving remittances from migrant workers. The six countries ranked before Bangladesh are India, Mexico, China, Philippines, Egypt, and Pakistan. However, Bangladesh ranks third among eight South Asian countries after India and Pakistan.
The growth of remittance is mainly calculated through money sent by the expatriates and the government incentives. In 2021, Bangladesh reached a total remittances inflow of $22 billion, which is 2.2% more than the previous year. On the other hand, the amount of remittances in India was $69 billion, which is 8% more than the last year and the total remittance received in Pakistan was $31 billion, which is 20% more than in 2020.
On Tuesday, the World Bank published a paper titled “Migration and Development Brief,” where it is estimated that remittance inflow in Bangladesh will be 2% this year, which is lower than the previous year, 2021. However, the remittance inflow increased by 24% at the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan 2022. Apart from that, the declines in monthly remittances over the last eight months have been significant.
The report cites several reasons for the increase in remittance flows in South Asian countries, including better economic recovery, availability of vaccines, significant employment and salary increases, and generous fiscal stimulus measures.
The report forecasted that South Asians enjoy highly paid jobs in the USA. However, due to the current slow economic growth in the USA, India will face a 5% growth in remittance in 2022, and Pakistan will receive 8% more remittance in 2022 than the previous year.
The report predicted that higher oil prices and food price limits in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would help sustain migrants’ ability to transfer more money to their families in South Asian countries in 2022. However, if the expatriates return to their old way of sending money through informal channels, this will hamper the formal remittance flow to South Asia.
However, there is a hope that despite the lowest remittance costs in the South Asian countries, this region still stands 50% higher than other regions, which is 3% higher than the expected Sustainable Development Goals(SDG).
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