Gulf remittances rise, India top recipient

India is the largest recipient country in terms of both global and GCC remittances , accounting for roughly 50 per cent of money transferred from the Gulf, an exchange company official has said.

According to Sudhir Kumar Shetty, the Chief Operating Officer of the UAE Exchange Centre, the sum remitted during 2010 was estimated to be between $25 billion to $30 billion.

Sudhir Kumar Shetty, the Chief Operating Officer of the UAE Exchange Centre, said money remitted by foreign workers in the UAE rose to $10.54 billion in 2010 from $9.51 billion in 2009, a clear indication that after a protracted downturn and a slump in job market during 2008 and 2009, the country's economy had returned to a recovery mode.

Shetty said the uptick in the GCC remittance market in comparison to the global figures reflects the resilience of the region in the wake of increased investments in development projects.

"With the exception of construction-related sectors, UAE's traditional industries, including trade, hospitality and tourism, have shown robust growth to underpin the migrant job market," he said.

Total expatriate workers' remittances from the GCC rose to $63.75 billion in 2010 from $60.03 billion in the previous year, up 6.1 per cent compared to an upturn of 2.44 per cent in worldwide remittances that, according the World Bank, reached $325 billion from $317.23 billion in 2009," Shetty was quoted by Khaleej Times as saying.

"Global remittance through our exchange grew 8 per cent to $5.84 billion in the first four months, while the GCC and the UAE showed growth rates of 7 per cent and two per cent to reach $4.1 billion and$2.66 billion, respectively, during the same period," he added.

The UAE Exchange transfers money through a network of 510 branches across 23 countries and accounted for 64 per cent of total worker remittances from the UAE in 2010.

"There has been a steady growth in the volume of remittances through the UAE Exchange from the UAE, the GCC and globally. In 2010, workers from the UAE remitted $6.7 billion through our exchange, up 11 per cent from $6 billion recorded in 2009," Shetty said.

Total remittances transacted through the UAE Exchange in the GCC rose to $11.04 billion from $9.4 billion.

According to the World Bank's Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, India continued to be the largest recipient of remittances in 2010, with remittances rising from $49.6 billion in 2009 to $55 billion in 2010.