Vietnam is expected to receive 15.9 billion USD in remittances this year (File Photo) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam was expected toremain one of the top ten remittance receivers in 2018, according to the latestedition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief released lastweekend.
A sum of 15.9 billion USD in remittances was projected toflow into Vietnam for the full year, making the Southeast Asian country thetenth largest remittance receiver — in dollar terms - in the world.
The top remittance-receiving countries were India (75.9billion USD), China (64.7 billion USD), the Philippines (33.7 billion USD),Mexico (33.7 billion USD), Egypt (25.7 billion USD) and Nigeria (25.1 billionUSD).
Financial and banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said thatremittance flow into Vietnam had stayed on an upward trend from the beginningof this year. This was mainly because Vietnamese people working abroad believedin the stability of the economy and saw better investment opportunities in thedomestic market, he said.
Hieu said that remittances to Vietnam were largely used toinvest in the real estate market, production and business. “Remittances flowinginto Vietnam in 2018 will continue to rise,” Hieu predicted.
Hieu said the central bank keeping its zero interest fordeposits in US dollars would encourage remittances into Vietnam to be used forinvestment rather being kept in banks.
World Bank statistics showed that remittances into Vietnamin 2017 reached a record high of 13.81 billion USD, an increase of 16 percentover 2016.
In the East Asia and Pacific region, Vietnam ranked third interms of remittances after China and the Philippines.
Remittances to the region were projected to growth by 6.6 percentin 2018 to 142 billion USD, 1.5 percentage points higher then the growth ratein 2017. In 2019 and 2020, growth of 4.2 percent and 4.7 percent were expectedfor the region.
The brief stressed that remittances to low- andmiddle-income countries had grown rapidly and were projected to reach a recordin 2018.
Updates showed that officially recorded remittances todeveloping countries would increase by 10.8 percent to reach 528 billion USD in2018. This new record follows robust growth of 7.8 percent in 2017.
Global remittances, which include high-income countries,were projected to grow by 10.3 percent to 689 billion USD.
Remittance flows rose in all regions, most notably in Europeand Central Asia (20 percent) and South Asia (13.5 percent), followed bySub-Saharan Africa (9.8 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (9.3 percent),the Middle East and North Africa (9.1 percent), and East Asia and the Pacific(6.6 percent).
Growth was driven by a stronger economy and employmentsituation in the US and a rebound in outward flows from Gulf CooperationCouncil countries and the Russian Federation.
For 2019, as global growth is projected to moderate, thebank forecast that future remittances to low- and middle-income countries wouldgrow moderately by 4 percent to reach 549 billion USD while global remittanceswould grow 3.7 percent to 715 billion USD.
“The future growth of remittances is vulnerable to lower oilprices, restrictive migration policies, and an overall moderation of economicgrowth,” said Michal Rutkowski, Senior Director of the Social Protectionand Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank.
The brief noted that the global average cost of sending 200 USDremained high at 6.9 percent in the third quarter of 2018. “Even withtechnological advances, remittances fees remain too high, doubling theSustainable Development Goal target of 3 percent. Opening up markets tocompetition and promoting the use of low-cost technologies will ease the burdenon poorer customers,” said Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior Vice President for the2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations, and Partnerships at the WorldBank.-VNS/VNA
A sum of 15.9 billion USD in remittances was projected toflow into Vietnam for the full year, making the Southeast Asian country thetenth largest remittance receiver — in dollar terms - in the world.
The top remittance-receiving countries were India (75.9billion USD), China (64.7 billion USD), the Philippines (33.7 billion USD),Mexico (33.7 billion USD), Egypt (25.7 billion USD) and Nigeria (25.1 billionUSD).
Financial and banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said thatremittance flow into Vietnam had stayed on an upward trend from the beginningof this year. This was mainly because Vietnamese people working abroad believedin the stability of the economy and saw better investment opportunities in thedomestic market, he said.
Hieu said that remittances to Vietnam were largely used toinvest in the real estate market, production and business. “Remittances flowinginto Vietnam in 2018 will continue to rise,” Hieu predicted.
Hieu said the central bank keeping its zero interest fordeposits in US dollars would encourage remittances into Vietnam to be used forinvestment rather being kept in banks.
World Bank statistics showed that remittances into Vietnamin 2017 reached a record high of 13.81 billion USD, an increase of 16 percentover 2016.
In the East Asia and Pacific region, Vietnam ranked third interms of remittances after China and the Philippines.
Remittances to the region were projected to growth by 6.6 percentin 2018 to 142 billion USD, 1.5 percentage points higher then the growth ratein 2017. In 2019 and 2020, growth of 4.2 percent and 4.7 percent were expectedfor the region.
The brief stressed that remittances to low- andmiddle-income countries had grown rapidly and were projected to reach a recordin 2018.
Updates showed that officially recorded remittances todeveloping countries would increase by 10.8 percent to reach 528 billion USD in2018. This new record follows robust growth of 7.8 percent in 2017.
Global remittances, which include high-income countries,were projected to grow by 10.3 percent to 689 billion USD.
Remittance flows rose in all regions, most notably in Europeand Central Asia (20 percent) and South Asia (13.5 percent), followed bySub-Saharan Africa (9.8 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (9.3 percent),the Middle East and North Africa (9.1 percent), and East Asia and the Pacific(6.6 percent).
Growth was driven by a stronger economy and employmentsituation in the US and a rebound in outward flows from Gulf CooperationCouncil countries and the Russian Federation.
For 2019, as global growth is projected to moderate, thebank forecast that future remittances to low- and middle-income countries wouldgrow moderately by 4 percent to reach 549 billion USD while global remittanceswould grow 3.7 percent to 715 billion USD.
“The future growth of remittances is vulnerable to lower oilprices, restrictive migration policies, and an overall moderation of economicgrowth,” said Michal Rutkowski, Senior Director of the Social Protectionand Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank.
The brief noted that the global average cost of sending 200 USDremained high at 6.9 percent in the third quarter of 2018. “Even withtechnological advances, remittances fees remain too high, doubling theSustainable Development Goal target of 3 percent. Opening up markets tocompetition and promoting the use of low-cost technologies will ease the burdenon poorer customers,” said Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior Vice President for the2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations, and Partnerships at the WorldBank.-VNS/VNA
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