Remittance inflows have increased 23.4 percent to Rs582.19 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, even though the number of workers going abroad for foreign employment decreased sharply.

 

According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the central monetary authority of the country, the number of Nepali workers (institutional and individual-new and legalised) leaving for foreign employment decreased 38.3 percent.

 

One of the major reasons behind the surge in remittance despite the fall in the number of people going abroad for employment, according to experts, is the appreciation of the US dollar against the domestic currency. A weak domestic currency means more rupees for the dollar. Nepali migrant workers sent home $8.1 billion in 2018, making it the 19th biggest beneficiary of funds sent by migrants around the world, according to a report recently released by the World Bank.

 

Remittances were up 16.39 percent year-on-year despite a drop in the number of departures. As a share of the gross domestic product for 2018, Nepal is among the top five recipient smaller economies, along with Tonga, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Haiti. A sharp decline in the number of people leaving for Malaysia, one of the most important labour destinations for Nepalis, dragged down departure figures. Nepal has signed a labour agreement with Malaysia, but lack of a mechanism to resume labour migration has stymied departures to this Southeast Asian country. The World Bank said that migrant workers continue to be afflicted by recruitment malpractices. (PR)