Wednesday, June 16, 2021
International Day of Family Remittances
Every year, the International Day of Family Remittances is observed by the United Nations on 16 June.
Main points of International Day of Family Remittances
The day is celebrated to honor the efforts of expatriates living abroad and to help improve the lives of their family members in their home country.
The first International Family Remittance Day was observed in 2015. The day encourages the public sector and the private sector to formulate policies for the betterment of migrants and encourage remittances.
What is dispatch?
The transfer of money by a foreign employee to his family in his home country is called remittance. This is extremely important as it is one of the largest financial flows to developing countries.
World Bank data on global remittances
The World Bank recently released the "Migration and Development Brief" report. The report said that remittance flows for low-income and middle-income countries were 1.9% lower in 2020 than in 2019. It was USD 540 billion in 2020 and USD 548 billion in 2019.
- The reduction in remittance flows was smaller than the 2009 global financial crisis.
- However, remittance flows to China declined by 30% in 2020.
- Caribbean and Latin inflows up 5%
- South Asia grew by 2%
- North Africa grew by 3%
- In the Pacific and East Asia, it fell to 9%
- South Asia declined 2%
- North Africa and the Middle East fell by 3%
- Central Asia and Europe declined 7%
- Sub-Saharan Africa declined 5%
- Apart from China, remittances to Nigeria have declined drastically. It declined by 28%.
India and Neighbors
- In 2019, India had received remittances worth $3 billion. It fell to 0.2% in 2020. This was the maximum in remittances from UAE. Remittances from UAE to India have dropped by 17%.
- In Pakistan, remittances increased by 17%. The biggest increase in remittances to Pakistan came from Saudi Arabia.
- Remittances to Bangladesh up 4%
- In Sri Lanka, it increased by 8%
- In Nepal, it fell 2%