Impact of COVID-19 on remittances
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Nepal#remises
▻http://thehimalayantimes.com/opinion/impact-of-covid-19-on-remittances
According to the World Bank’s latest Migration Brief, global remittances are expected to take a dramatic fall by about 20 per cent to US$ 445 billion in 2020 from US$ 554 billion in 2019 due to the economic crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic along with the lockdowns. This decline, the sharpest drop in recent history, is largely attributed to a decrease in the wages and employment of migrant workers. Remittances to low and middle-income countries (LMICs), on the other hand, are also estimated to go down by 19.7 per cent to $445 billion, signifying a loss of a key financing lifeline for many vulnerable households. Despite this decline, remittance flows are expected to become even more crucial as a source of external financing for LMICs as the decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected to be bigger, that is, more than 35 per cent owing to the travel bans and disruption in international trade, among others.