MANAMA: The total amount of remittances by an estimated 14.5 million expatriate workers in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) exceeded $30 billion last year. The economic downturn has resulted in mass job redundancies in the GCC and stirred a new debate about how to handle the delicate situation of downsizing in both private and public sectors.
The Middle East has become the fastest growth region for the money transfer and remittance industry due to the huge development projects requiring increasing numbers of expatriates.
While the global growth rate in the remittance industry stood at eight percent in 2008, in the region it is more than 15 percent annually.
However, the recent hike in inflation has had significant impact on the value of remittances.
Statistics show that money transfers by foreign workers to countries outside the Gulf region is estimated at $30 billion a year — this makes a 9 percent loss annually of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the region.
