The Hindu Business Line : Western Union forecasts fall in remittances in ’09

‘There are close to 30 million migrants and the number is set to move up with a strong growth in the segment of student population going abroad. Remittances from West Asia have dropped due to the slowdown in the construction sector.’

Our Bureau

Kolkata, Nov. 10 There might be a dip in the flow of remittances into the country during 2009 due to the global economic situation and job losses across various countries, particularly the Gulf, according to Mr Rajesh Mehta, Director Marketing-South and South East Asia, Western Union Services India Ltd.

There has been about 13 per cent decline in remittances inflow at $22.8 billion during the first half (January-June) of 2009, against $26.2 billion during the same period last year, Mr Mehta said.

“Last year India was the largest recipient of remittances at $50 billion. This year, however, we are anticipating a slight slowdown, which is already visible during the first half of this year,” he said while speaking to newspersons at a media briefing here on Tuesday. The remittances during January-March stood at $9.5 billion ($14 billion for the same period in 2008) and that for April-June stood at $13 billion ($12.2 billion), according to figures on private transfers available on the RBI Web site.

“Remittances from West Asia have dropped due to the slowdown in the construction sector,” he said.

However, the dip in remittances was just a short-term setback and things would pick up soon as there has been no significant drop in the number of migrants, he pointed out.

“There are close to 30 million migrants and the number is set to move up with a strong growth in the segment of student population going abroad,” he said.

Western Union, Mr Mehta said, registered 16 per cent growth in transactions and 8 per cent growth in revenues during the first half of 2009.

“We constantly keep monitoring the various corridors to understand the migration and remittances trend. Though there has been a significant slowdown in remittances from the Gulf, the losses from that corridor has been offset by markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and parts of Europe and Africa,” he said.

West Bengal would be one of the key areas of focus for the company as far as remittances are concerned, he said. Western Union plans to scale-up its presence in various districts, including Nadia, Murshidabad and Malda. “These districts offer good potential and we are looking at increasing our network strength in these areas,” he added.

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