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November 2008

Money transfers conference in London on November 17-18: New innovations in money transfers amidst crisis

Submitted by Sanket Mohapatra on Fri, 11/28/2008 - 11:33

I recently made a presentation on our outlook for remittances at the Money Transfers London conference. The discussions were lively and interesting and the topics included the impact of the EU payment services directive (PSD) and other regulatory changes for the money transfer industry, innovations in smart cards and mobile money transfers, and the impact of the current economic crisis, among others (see full conference agenda).

One development I found interesting was efforts to standardize training for Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLROs) in the money transfer firms. To remain relevant in times of changing rules and regulations, these officials will need to be tuned to the messages coming from regulators not only through directives and websites, but also from speeches and interviews in the media.  

This conference and others organized by industry bodies such as the IAMTN are very useful because they provide a space for private sector participants to interact with regulators and development agencies, clarify new regulations and laws, and let us hear from practitioners on new developments and emerging technologies.

Outlook for Remittance Flows 2008-2010: Growth expected to moderate significantly, but flows to remain resilient

Submitted by Dilip Ratha on Tue, 11/11/2008 - 11:18

After several years of strong growth, remittance flows to developing countries began to slow down in the third quarter of 2008. This slowdown is expected to deepen further in 2009 in response to the global financial crisis, although the exact magnitude of the growth moderation (or outright decline in some cases) is hard to predict given the uncertainties about global growth, commodity prices, and exchange rates.

In nominal dollar terms, officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries are estimated to reach $283 billion in 2008, up 6.7 percent from $265 billion in 2007; but in real terms, remittances are expected to fall from 2 percent of GDP in 2007 to 1.8 percent in 2008. This decline, however, is smaller than that of private or official capital flows, implying that remittances are expected to remain resilient relative to many other categories of resource flows to developing countries. In 2009, remittances are expected to fall by 0.9 percent (or at the worst case, no more than 6 percent).

Migration flows from developing countries may slow as a result of the global growth slowdown, but the stock of international migrants from developing countries is unlikely to decrease. Remittance flows from the GCC countries are likely to fall more than those from the US and Europe, affecting recipient countries in the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia.  Read the full Migration and Development Brief 8.

Can they?: Implications of Obama victory for migration and development

Submitted by Dilip Ratha on Thu, 11/06/2008 - 11:31

What a moment in history! As soon as Obama was projected to be the next president of the United States of America, countless migrant mothers (I know one!) patted their children and said, with tears in the eyes, "You too have a chance to be the president of this great country!" Seems to me that overnight America has become more inviting to the immigrants. Has it? Will Obama follow through with his campaign promise, or will he change his stance? Should he? What would that mean from a development point of view?

On their website, Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan on immigration states the following: