Kerala to train, export health workers; capitalise on remittances: FM Isaac

'There will be demand for Kerala nurses and paramedics all over the globe,' says Finance Minister Thomas Isaac.

Kerala, famed for development indicators comparable to the first world, will invest in training and exporting health workers with the aim of capitalizing on their remittances, its Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said.

Countries have “realized that lack of investment in public health system can, in a pandemic time, be totally debilitating to the national economy,” Isaac said in a telephone interview. “There will be demand for Kerala nurses and paramedics all over the globe.”

Kerala has historically benefited from a large population of expatriates sending money back home, helping drive economic and social gains such as India’s highest literacy rate and the country’s highest sex ratio. The state accounted for about a fifth of some $80 billion sent home last year by Indians living abroad.

The state government’s plan to invest in training health workers comes as the World Bank estimates a sharp decline in remittances globally following disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, including job losses.

Isaac doesn’t see an immediate drop in remittances though. “For the simple reason that the people are returning home. Therefore, they would bring back all their savings,” he said.

A sharp rise in net invisible receipts, which includes money remitted home, helped India’s current-account balance flip to a rare surplus in the quarter ended March, according to the Reserve Bank of India. Remittances by Indians employed overseas and other private transfers rose 14.8% from a year ago to $20.6 billion during the period, the RBI said.

When remittances do fall, consumption will be the biggest casualty, according to Isaac. Construction activities will contract sharply and real estate is going to be damped in the near future, he said. Kerala’s per capita consumption expenditure is highest in the country, he said.