Remittances

Maintain detailed records of foreign remittances, including purpose, amount, and beneficiary details

Major lenders like ICICI Bank Ltd. and State Bank of India have dominated the outbound remittance market in India

The RBI has only put up the draft directions on exports and imports of goods and services for public response. The directions would be finalised only after receiving feedback from stakeholders

India received remittances worth $120 billion in 2023, supported by strong labour markets in the United States and Europe

According to a survey by the Reserve Bank of India on post-Covid-19 remittances, the United States emerges as the primary contributor, constituting 23% of the total amount

According to the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bulletin, the remittances under the scheme stood at $2.28 billion in April 2024, 1.98 per cent below $2.33 billion in April 2023

India received over USD 111 billion in remittances in 2022, the largest in the world, becoming the first country to reach and even surpass the USD 100 billion mark, the United Nations migration agency has said. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), in its World Migration Report 2024 launched Tuesday, said that in 2022, India, Mexico, China, the Philippines and France were the top five remittance recipient countries. "India was well above the rest, receiving more than USD 111 billion, the first country to reach and even surpass the USD 100 billion mark. Mexico was the second-largest remittance recipient in 2022, a position it also held in 2021 after overtaking China, which historically had been the second-biggest recipient after India, the report said. According to the report's data, India was the top country receiving remittances in 2010 (USD 53.48 billion), 2015 (USS 68.91 billion), and 2020 (USD 83.15 billion), with the remittances crossing the USD 100 billion mark t

Overseas remittances in January 2024 stood at $2.62 billion, nearly 9 per cent higher than $2.40 billion in December 2023

Additionally, banks such as Axis Bank, DBS Bank India, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, and State Bank of India provide this functionality through their respective apps

Gold reserves rose by $446 million in the previous week, whereas Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) increased by $135 million

Inflation declining and strong labour markets in high-income source countries boosted transfers by highly skilled Indians, it says

India continues to be the highest recipient of remittances globally, followed by Mexico ($67 billion) and China ($50 billion)

CBDC was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The RBI began the pilot wholesale CBDC project on November 1, 2022

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar on Friday said the high cost of remittances for countries despite the available technology was unconscionable, and India is in talks with more jurisdictions to make a material impact on cross-border payments. Sankar, during a virtual address at the BCC&I Indo-Pacific Economic Conclave, said according to World Bank research, global cross-border remittance in 2022 was estimated to be USD 830 billion, and India was the top recipient. As per the World Bank's remittance prices worldwide database, the global average cost of a retail size of remittance (retail size - USD 200) was 6.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022. For some countries, this cost can be as high as 8 per cent. Such a high cost in today's context, when data connectivity is so cheap, is simply unconscionable. I believe that given the available technology, the present situation is not sustainable, he said. The top RBI official said India has been making efforts to tackle the ..

As the new Tax Collection at Source (TCS) on foreign remittances is set to become applicable from October 1, travel agents' body TAAI has made a last-minute plea to the government, urging them to abolish the decision or defer its implementation until the next fiscal year to allow discussions on overseas tour packages. The government has raised the TCS on foreign remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) from 5 per cent to 20 per cent. This will be applicable to international travel, sending money abroad and other remittances. Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, appealing to abolish TCS on overseas tour packages, highlighting the business loss and complexity of its implementation. In a letter to the FM, TAAI President Jyoti Mayal said the TCS is a huge challenge for the travel fraternity and would lead to a lot of business being diverted to overseas tour operators. Further, she pointed out that with GST alread

People in India spent close to $1.5 billion on international travel in May, against $1.10 billion in April

Pakistan lost over USD 4 billion in remittances sent by expatriates to illegal channels in the current fiscal year, much higher than the amount the cash-strapped government struggled to secure from the IMF as a bailout. Data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country's central bank, on Monday showed that the month-on-month remittances increased slightly by 4 per cent to USD 2.183 billion in June, while it witnessed a 22 per cent decline when compared with the USD 2.8 billion the country received in June 2022. The country received a total of USD 27.024 billion in remittances during FY23, against a record USD 31.278 billion in FY22, a decline of 13.6 or USD 4.254 billion, the Dawn newspaper reported. The central bank did not offer any reason for the decline of the remittances, but analysts said the government's effort to keep the dollar at lower than actual rates hit the inflows through banking channels. The government tried to maintain the dollar-rupee parity at Rs 22

Singapore-headquartered Instarem sees huge inbound flow of remittances into India, citing the World Bank projection that money sent home by the Indian diaspora will reach USD 100 billion a year in the coming year or so, up from USD 82 billion received last year. India is a huge inbound market for us, and we have big operations in Mumbai, which is our main technology and product centre, Yogesh Sangle, Global Head of Instarem, told PTI on Wednesday on the increase in monies sent home regularly by the Indian diaspora. Instarem has also grown its offices in Bangalore and Chennai, to leverage the talent in India, said Sangle who pointed out that the estimated USD 82 billion received in India in 2022 was the largest remittance flow in the world. The app-based remittance company is setting up operations in Japan to serve Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Consumers, and has recently launched a SME-support product in Indonesia. COVID-19 had created an opportunity to service the ...

Growth in remittance flows into India to decelerate to 0.2% in 2023, from 24% in 2023: World Bank

Pakistan lost at least USD 3.7 billion in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year as expatriates used unofficial channels for remittances due to the huge exchange rate gap, the cash-strapped country's central bank has said. The Pakistani rupee has been in a state of freefall for most of the year due to pressure on the depleting foreign exchange reserves, creating a difference between the inter-bank and private money market exchange rates. Data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday showed that the country lost USD 3.7 billion in remittances during the first 11 months of FY23 mainly due to a widening exchange rate gap. Overseas Pakistanis who sent money to their relatives and families apparently resorted to unofficial channels to transfer funds, causing a loss to the official remittances that majorly contribute to helping support the balance of payments, the Dawn newspaper reported. It said the remittances sent by Pakistani expatriates dipped month-on-month b