Coronavirus lockdowns in rich countries are slowing the flow of money to millions of people in the developing economies, Reuters reports. Roughly one in nine of the global population — about 800 million people — receive remittances and the money is not getting through in the way it used to.
The World Bank expects global remittances to low- and middle-income nations to fall in 2020 by $109 billion or almost a fifth to $445 billion. This is a result of the pandemic cutting into the prospects of migrant workers who tend to be most vulnerable in an economic downturn. The U.S. — which accounted for $68.50 billion of payments globally in 2018 — has seen unemployment soar. More than 40 million jobs have been lost since March while the Gulf economies, the world’s No. 2 source, have been hit by lower oil prices.
India, China and Mexico are the top recipients of remittances, while El Salvador and neighboring Honduras received remittances that amounted to a fifth of their gross domestic product in 2018.
Source: Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-remittances-insigh/rich-worlds-jobs-crisis-jolts-money-flows-to-millions-idUSKBN23821O