South Asian remittances: implications for development

Abstract

Remittances are increasingly identified as golden eggs that contribute crucially to the foreign exchange earnings of many developing countries across the world. While their global value may be around US$150–200 billion, remittances to South Asia alone total perhaps US$40–50 billion. This paper seeks to document the flow of remittances into this region in an attempt to reveal the complexity of the procedures associated with the informal international transfer of funds. It argues that, if remittances are to serve development goals, they must be distinguished from other international transfers (some of which are associated with subversive and even criminal activities), and should not be subjected to heavy-handed forms of regulation and control that risk destroying the fragile links between foreign migrants working abroad and the households and local communities to whom they seek to send remittances for survival and development purposes.