Migrant Remittance Flows

Findings from a Global Survey of Central Banks

Jacqueline Irving, Sanket Mohapatra, Dilip Ratha

• Publisher: World Bank Publications
• Year: 2010
• Topic: Economics
• eBook ISBN:
  9780821383629
• Subtopic: Banks & Banking
• Index: Economics

Drawing on the findings from responses to a survey conducted in 2008–09 from 114 central banks worldwide (of which 33 are in Africa), this paper aims to better understand how central banks and other national institutions regulate and collect data and other information on cross-border remittance flows. Findings indicate that, although the vast majority of countries, in both sending and receiving countries, collect data on remittances, and 43 percent of receiving countries estimate informal remittances, there is a need for more frequent and better coordinated data collection, both across national institutions and among different divisions within the same national institution, as well as between countries. Survey results also indicate that many new market entrants' transfer activities are unregulated. Countries must take into account new channels and technologies, such as mobile phone service providers, in monitoring remittance flows. It will be important for national regulatory authorities to work closely with mobile telecoms network operators to strike the right regulatory balance, to better understand these new channels' associated risks and fully tap their potential for fostering inexpensive, efficient remittance transfer services. The high cost of transfers was cited in the survey as the top factor inhibiting migrants from using formal channels. Many countries, particularly in Africa, have made progress in rendering exclusivity contracts illegal, which helps increase competitiveness and reduce transfer costs. But further policy reforms and initiatives are needed to address the high costs of remittances. The joint African Development Bank-World Bank Africa Migration Project and G-8 Global Remittances Working Group provided partial funding support for this study.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Abstract
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• 1. Introduction and Main Findings
• 2. Findings from the Survey
• 3. Policy Implications
• References
• Appendixes
• Table 2.1. Migrant Remittance Inflows Are Better Monitored than Outflows
• Table 2.2. Central Banks Are Starting to Record Transfers through New Remittance Technologies and Channels
• Table 2.3. Many Remittance Services Providers (Particularly Newer Entrants) Are Not Supervised
• Figure 2.1. Data and Information Collected from Household and/or Overseas Migrant Surveys is the Top-Cited Method for Estimating Remittance Transfers through Informal Channels
• Figure 2.2. There Is a Large Discrepancy between Remittance Data Reported in Surveys and Those Compiled from IMF Balance of Payments Statistics for Some Countries
• Figure 2.3. High Cost was Cited as the Top Single Factor Inhibiting Use of Formal Channels for Remittance Transfers
• Figure 2.4. High Cost Was Strongly Cited as the Top Factor Inhibiting Use of Formal Channels in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Figure 2.5. Requiring MTOs to Partner with Banks to Receive Remittance Inflows Is Associated with Perception of High Costs
• Figure 2.6. Compulsory Conversion of Remittance Inflows into Local Currency Is Associated with Perception of High Costs
• Figure 2.7. Better Statistics and Studies Were Top-Cited Areas Needing Attention for Improved Efficiency and Security of Transfers
• Figure 8. Better Statistics and Studies on Migration Was Cited by Nearly 80 Percent of Sub-Saharan African Respondents as Needing Attention for Improved Efficiency and Delivery of Remittances
• Box 2.1. Data Collection Practices of Countries that are Both Remittance-sourc e and Remittance-receiving: Some Examples