Indian remittances fall as Gulf reduces demand for foreign workers

4 April 2016

Remittances to India – a large chunk of which comes from the millions of Indians working in the Gulf region – fell to $15.8 billion last quarter, the lowest since April-June 2011, it has been reported.85387833
Bloomberg reported that the figure represented a 9.4 percent drop from a year earlier, as the global slowdown and slumping oil prices reduced the demand for foreign workers.
India relies on remittances and earnings from services exports to help bridge a trade shortfall and support its currency and Indians working overseas remitted $72.2 billion in 2015, Bloomberg said, citing World Bank estimates.
It added that workers in the Gulf region accounted for more than half of funds sent home in 2014, while labourers in the UAE sent the single biggest chunk of $13 billion.

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