Remittances: When the money stops coming in
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2020
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The World Bank has warned global remittances, which is the money migrant workers send home, will fall by around 20% in 2020 because of coronavirus. The bank predicts this will affect the income of at least tens of millions of families. One such family is that of Smitha in Kerala, whose husband is stuck in Dubai unable to work due to lockdown. But it’s not just about subsistence. Michael Clemens at the Centre for Global Development says remittance flows are a crucial resource for helping families and communities pull themselves out of poverty, and the effects of this sharp fall in remittances will be felt for many years to come. Meanwhile, Yvonne Mhango, Sub-Saharan Africa at Renaissance Capital, explains how the impact felt in Africa will differ across regions. And Michael Kent, CEO of digital payments service Azimo, explains how services like his could fill the gap left by the shuttering of brick and mortar transfer shops. Producer: Frey Lindsay. (Picture: Smitha and her family. Picture credit: Smitha Girish.)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC with me, Manuela Saragossa. |
| 0:07.7 | Coming up, when the money stops coming in. |
| 0:10.6 | Families back home do depend on that income, not just food consumption, but for school fees, paying for utility bills. |
| 0:17.5 | Millions of people in the developing world rely on relatives working overseas to send |
| 0:22.4 | money home. They depend on these global remittances to make ends meet. But the coronavirus pandemic is |
| 0:29.0 | upending that, threatening to plunge millions into poverty. Remittances have been a lifeline for families |
| 0:34.4 | all around the world for many years. They go typically directly into the |
| 0:38.5 | pockets of poor families and are spent on things that they immediately need. And the large majority |
| 0:43.7 | of foreign aid does nothing of the kind. We'll hear how governments and technology might help. |
| 0:49.2 | That's all here in Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 0:59.7 | It's the biggest source of foreign capital flowing into developing countries. |
| 1:02.5 | No, not big companies with big investment projects. |
| 1:05.1 | Not even big investment banks with big bucks. |
| 1:09.5 | The biggest source of foreign capital in developing countries is coming from people like the husband of Smytha Gerrish. |
| 1:11.7 | She lives in Kerala in India, where she looks after her son who has autism. |
| 1:16.2 | Her husband lives in Dubai, in the UAE, where until recently he was working as a sales engineer. |
| 1:22.4 | He used to send me money for every month, and that was my main source of income because I am a lawyer |
| 1:29.6 | by profession but I couldn't go for job because my son is a bit autistic you know because I'm |
| 1:35.3 | looking after him and staying in home nowadays and so I couldn't go for job and my husband is sending |
| 1:40.8 | me each month money and the money that your husband used to send you, what did you use it for? |
| 1:46.1 | By spending that money for our livelihood, no. |
| 1:48.6 | But all this time, for the past one month, he is not having any salary. |
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