World Bank: Nigeria’ll earn $22b from foreign remittances.

Nigeria will record an inflow of $22 billion from foreign remittances this year, an increase from the $19 billion recorded last year, the World Bank has said.

The Migration and Development Brief released by the global bank also stated that global remittance flow will recover this year after two consecutive years of decline.

Foreign remittances are funds sent by people in a foreign country to their home  countries.

The World Bank, in a statement on its website, said: “Officially recorded remittances to developing countries are expected to grow by 4.8 per cent to $450 billion for 2017. Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, are projected to grow by 3.9 per cent to $596 billion.

“Among major remittance recipients, India retains its top spot, with remittances expected to total $65 billion this year, followed by China ($61 billion), the Philippines ($33 billion), Mexico (a record $31 billion), and Nigeria ($22 billion).

“Buoyed by improved economic activity in high-income OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, remittances to sub-Saharan Africa are projected to grow by a robust 10 per cent to $38 billion this year. The region’s major remittance receiving countries, Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana, are all set for growth.

“The region is also host to a number of countries where remittances account for a significant share of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), including Liberia (26 per cent), Comoros (21 per cent), and the Gambia (20 per cent). Remittances will grow by a moderate 3.8 per cent to $39 billion in 2018.”

According to the bank, the global average cost of sending money remained stagnant at 7.2 per cent of the amount in the third quarter of this year.

It said: “This was significantly higher than the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of three per cent. Sub-Saharan Africa, with an average cost of 9.1 per cent, remains the highest-cost region.

“Two major factors contributing to high costs are exclusive partnerships between national post office systems and any single money transfer operator (MTO), which stifles market competition and allows the MTO to raise remittance fees, as well as de-risking by commercial banks, as they close bank accounts of MTOs, in order to cope with the high regulatory burden aimed at reducing money laundering and financial crime.”

By Lucas Ajanaku.

Culled from The Nation Online.