ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is estimated to see a modest 1.4 per cent growth, lowest in three years; in foreign remittance inflows during 2017 even though the transfer of international funds to low and middle-income nations appeared recovering after two years of decline.
The latest edition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief released on Tuesday said the country had witnessed 12 per cent growth in remittances in 2015, which moderated to about 2.8 per cent in 2016 and is expected to grow by 1.4 per cent this year.
The brief said Pakistan stood fifth among top remittance receivers in 2016 with $ 19.8 billion, behind India’s $ 62.7 billion, China’s $ 61 billion, Philippines’ $ 29.9 billion and Mexico’s $ 28.5 billion. This was followed by $ 19 billion sent to Nigeria, $ 16.6 billion to Egypt and $ 13.7 billion to Bangladesh.
However, Pakistan’s 6.9 per cent GDP remittances stood nowhere among the top remittance receivers in terms of GDP percentage as Kyrgyzstan stood top with 34.5 per cent, followed by Nepal (29.7 per cent) Sri Lanka (8.8 per cent) Bangladesh (6 per cent) and India (2.8 per cent).
The World Bank said remittances to India declined by 8.9 per cent to $ 62.7 billion in 2016, and those to Bangladesh fell by an estimated 11.1 per cent. Nepal experienced unusually high growth in remittances, at 14.3 per cent in 2015, due to emigrants sending financial assistance after the earthquake. In 2016, remittance flows to Nepal declined by an estimated 6.7 per cent from the previous year’s high level. In Sri Lanka, the growth was estimated at 3.9 per cent in 2016.
Remittance growth in the region is projected to remain muted at 2 per cent because of low growth and fiscal consolidation in the Gulf region. Bangladesh’s remittance growth in 2017 is forecast at 2.4 per cent, India’s at 1.9 per cent, Pakistan’s at 1.4 per cent, and Sri Lanka’s at 1.3 per cent.
The World Bank also reported findings of the survey jointly conducted by the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2015 of recruitment costs paid by Pakistani construction workers in Saudi Arabia, saying they paid more than $ 4,000 on average upfront in recruitment fees. “Some pay as much as $ 9,000”.
A primary aim of the initiative, the World Bank said, was to work with other United Nations agencies and national statistical agencies to develop the recruitment cost indicator as part of Sustainable Development Goals indicator.
