VN set to be among top ten remittance receivers
VIETNAM is expected to remain one of the top 10 remittance receivers this year, according to the latest edition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief released last weekend.
A sum of $15.9 billion in remittances was projected to flow into Vietnam for the full year, making the Southeast Asian country the tenth largest remittance receiver — in dollar terms – in the world.
The projected top remittance-receiving countries are India ($75.9 billion), China ($64.7 billion), the Philippines ($33.7 billion), Mexico ($33.7 billion), Egypt ($25.7 billion) and Nigeria ($25.1 billion).
Financial and banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said that remittance flow into Vietnam had stayed on an upward trend from the beginning of this year. This was mainly because Vietnamese working abroad believed in the stability of the economy and saw better investment opportunities in the domestic market, he said.
Hieu said remittances to Vietnam were largely used to invest in the real estate market, production and business.
“Remittances flowing into Vietnam in 2018 will continue to rise.”
He said the central bank keeping its zero interest for deposits in US dollars would encourage remittances into Vietnam to be used for investment rather being kept in banks.
Record high
World Bank statistics showed that remittances into Vietnam last year reached a record high of $13.81 billion, an increase of 16 per cent from 2016.
In the East Asia and Pacific region, Vietnam ranked third in terms of remittances after China and the Philippines.
Remittances to the region were projected to grow by 6.6 per cent in 2018 to $142 billion, 1.5 per cent higher than the growth rate last year. Next year and in 2020, growth of 4.2 per cent and 4.7 per cent is expected for the region.
The brief stressed that remittances to low- and middleincome countries had grown rapidly and were projected to reach a record this year.
Updates showed that officially recorded remittances to developing countries would increase by 10.8 per cent to reach $528 billion this year. This new record follows robust growth of 7.8 per cent last year.
Global remittances, which include high-income countries, were projected to grow by 10.3 per cent to $689 billion.
Remittance flows rose in all regions, most notably in Europe and Central Asia (20 per cent) and South Asia (13.5 per cent), followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (9.8 per cent), Latin America and the Caribbean (9.3 per cent), the Middle East and North Africa (9.1 per cent) and East Asia and the Pacific (6.6 per cent).
Growth was driven by a stronger economy and employment situation in the US and a rebound in outward flows from Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the Russian Federation.
For next year, as global growth is projected to moderate, the bank forecast that future remittances to low- and middle-income countries would grow moderately by four per cent to reach $549 billion while global remittances would grow 3.7 per cent to $715 billion.
“The future growth of remittances is vulnerable to lower oil prices, restrictive migration policies and an overall moderation of economic growth,” said Michal Rutkowski, Senior Director of the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank.
The brief noted that the global average cost of sending $200 remained high at 6.9 per cent in the third quarter of this year.
“Even with technological advances, remittance fees remain too high, which double the Sustainable Development Goal target of three per cent. Opening up markets to competition and promoting the use of low-cost technologies will ease the burden on poorer customers,” said Mahmoud Mohieldin, senior vice president for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations, and Partnerships at the Bank.