Arab Times

Expats send home more money in Corona times

Many families leave for good

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KUWAIT CITY, June 16: The recent statistics of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) shows an increase in the remittance­s of expatriate­s in 2020, which reached KD5.3 billion -- about 14.5 percent higher than in 2019 when remittance­s totaled KD4.62 billion, reports AlAnba daily.

In 2020, there was a sharp decline in spending due to the corona pandemic; while remittance­s in the third and fourth quarters increased remarkably. According to data, remittance­s in the first quarter reached KD1.35 billion, KD1.05 billion in the second quarter, KD1.4 billion in the third quarter and KD1.47 billion in the fourth quarter.

Repercussi­ons

Expatriate­s sent more money to their home countries in spite of the repercussi­ons of the pandemic; such as the loss of jobs for thousands of expatriate­s and reduction of salaries for some, leading to lower remittance­s in the first and second quarters.

In the third and fourth quarters, many expatriate­s sent their families back to their home countries; hence, they started transferri­ng a bulk of their income to their families. Thousands of expatriate­s also left Kuwait permanentl­y, so they transferre­d their savings to their home countries as Kuwait does not offer any investment opportunit­y for expatriate­s.

Curfews and closure of restaurant­s could also be the reasons for lower spending among expatriate­s, prompting them to remit their money to their home countries. In addition, they did not travel during the summer break last year.

‘No front-liners’: The Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Essa AlKandari said, “The ministry and its affiliated entities do not have lists of COVID-19 front-liners, as their work is related to the supportive ranks”, highlighti­ng the request of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to stop the procedures for disbursing rewards until the leaders of the ministry and affiliated entities are directed for further review, reports Al-Rai daily.

He said this in response to a parliament­ary question by MP Hamad AlMatar regarding CSC’s instructio­ns to 21 government agencies regarding the lists of employees entitled to a reward for being in the frontline to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

Al-Kandari affirmed that the ministry is yet to review the list of employees who are considered as frontliner in the ministry, and determine what kind of work they executed to deserve such bonuses.

He stressed that this move is aimed to preserve the sanctity of public money and uphold the principle of transparen­cy and integrity”.

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