According to a recent/latest World Bank report/brief, remittances of alien workers of developing countries to their home countries stood at US$ 404 billion last year, with India topping the list of countries receiving the maximum remittances. And the World Bank brief also says that the total amount of remittances to the developing countries could go further up, to about US$ 436 billion. This increase, it says in the brief/report would be so, in spite of events such as deportations of immigrants , etc. The brief also says that global remittances including to developed countries would be at US$581, this year.
According to the brief, remittances to developing countries continue to be a very important and crucial source of resource flows even exceeding governmental or official developmental assistance, in those countries. According to the report/brief, it is also more steady and secure than private debt and portfolio equity inflows. It is also a fact that for many of the developing countries, remittances are an important source of foreign exchange, often exceeding earnings from exports, and of major help in substituting for imports. Some notable example countries where this holds true are Nepal, Sri Lanka, Philippines, etc.
In India, for example, remittances last year, stood at US$ 70 billion, as compared to the earnings from the software industry which stood at US$ 65 billion. Some of the other countries where remittances from foreign countries are large are Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, Mexico, Nigeria, etc.
The brief also states that in the medium-term, the chances of large remittances being sent back home are high, it is possible that in the longer-term, the chances of this continuing may decrease or may be at risk, because of conflicts or deportation, etc. Also, as war-like situations persist in some countries, there may be a significant rise in the number of asylum seekers, which in turn spurs anti-immigrant feelings against immigrants in host countries and this could well portend risks for more remittances being sent by alien workers back home.
