I was struck by an interview featured in a recent show of CBC Radio One’s “The Current”. Nani Gautam, a live-in caregiver in Canada, was asked how important was the money she sent home to her family in Nepal, especially after the earthquake.
“As important as breathing for life,” said Nani, who sends home at least one-third of her earnings every month, month-after-month, for the last five years.
Her remittances are even more important now, after the earthquake. But she has encountered difficulty sending money to Nepal because banks were closed.
Hidden billions (milliarder)
In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, it is normal for us to think of supplying food, shelter, medicine to the affected people.
Although less obvious, access to cash and remittance services (sende-penge-hjem kanaler) is perhaps equally important.
After the earthquake, overseas Nepalese like Nani were the first to think of sending help to their families and friends back home. Yet, they experienced difficulties.
Over two million Nepalese are working overseas, most of them in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). An equal number of Nepalese are also working in India, a large number of them as seasonal migrants.
Remittances from India are grossly under-recorded, but the recorded amount is believed to more than make up for the bilateral trade deficit Nepal has vis-à-vis India, thus helping Nepal maintain its exchange rate link with the Indian rupee.
International remittances reached 5.9 billion US dollar in 2014, compared to less than one billion of ODA (statslig udviklingsbistand, red.) and less than 500 million dollar of international tourism receipts.
As the Nepalese economy has floundered in recent decades, the dependence of the people on remittances has grown almost exponentially (se neden for).
The ratio of remittances to GDP was about 30 percent last year. I expect this ratio to increase significantly this year.
At nearly 6 billion dolllar, remittances provide a lifeline to the Nepalese people
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