India highest recipient of remittances at $79 billion in 2018: World Bank

India was followed by China (USD 67 billion), Mexico (USD 36 billion), the Philippines (USD 34 billion), and Egypt (USD 29 billion), the global lender said.

India retained its position as the world's top recipient of remittances with its diaspora sending a whopping USD 79 billion back home in 2018, the World Bank said in a report Monday.

India was followed by China (USD 67 billion), Mexico (USD 36 billion), the Philippines (USD 34 billion), and Egypt (USD 29 billion), the global lender said.

With this, India has retained its top spot on remittances, according to the latest edition of the World Bank's Migration and Development Brief.

Over the last three years, India has registered a significant flow of remittances from USD 62.7 billion in 2016 to USD 65.3 billion 2017.

"Remittances grew by more than 14 percent in India, where a flooding disaster in Kerala likely boosted the financial help that migrants sent to families, the Bank said.

In Pakistan, remittance growth was moderate (seven per cent), due to significant declines in inflows from Saudi Arabia, its largest remittance source. In Bangladesh, remittances showed a brisk uptick in 2018 (15 per cent).

According to the report, remittances to low-and middle-income countries reached a record high of USD 529 billion in 2018, an increase of 9.6 per cent over the previous record high of USD 483 billion in 2017.

Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, reached USD 689 billion in 2018, up from USD 633 billion in 2017, it said.

The Bank said, remittances to South Asia grew 12 per cent to USD 131 billion in 2018, outpacing the six per cent growth in 2017.

"The upsurge was driven by stronger economic conditions in the United States and a pick-up in oil prices, which had a positive impact on outward remittances from some GCC countries," it said.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a regional inter-governmental political and economic bloc of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

However, the Bank in its report rued that the global average cost of sending USD 200 remained high, at around seven per cent in the first quarter of 2019.

Business Standard

Typhoon Mangkhut: 54 dead, over 250,000 people affected in Philippines

With winds reaching a speed of up to 165 mph, the typhoon, dubbed as the world's strongest storm of the year, had made landfall in the Philippines on Saturday.

At least 54 people were killed in the Philippines on Sunday after Typhoon Mangkhut wreaked havoc in the island nation as the storm continued its devastating path and made landfall in Hong Kong and mainland China.

The typhoon, dubbed as the world's strongest storm of the year, had made landfall in the Philippines on Saturday. With winds reaching a speed of up to 165 mph, the storm sent debris flying, toppling roofs of houses, crashing down trees and flattening huts, CNN reported.

According to government officials on Sunday, 42 people were missing and rescue operations to trace those missing will resume on Monday. Over 250,000 people were affected by the storm across the island nation, forcing them to seek shelter in evacuation centres in the northern Philippines, a region which has seen 51 incidents of landslides.

Harry Rogue, the spokesperson for Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, told CNN that most of the casualties occurred due to landslides in Cordillera Administrative Region in northern Luzon. Duterte also undertook a visit to the affected areas to take stock of the situation and oversee the rescue operations.

Meanwhile, the governor of Benguet province Crescencio Carino Pacalso said that those missing were believed to be miners working in small villages in Itogon municipality.

As Typhoon Mangkhut made landfall in Hong Kong on Sunday, gusty winds sent debris flying, smashing trees, blowing roofs off and led to massive flooding, triggered by storm surge, inundating parts of the city. As of now, no deaths or injuries have been reported.

The storm is expected to dump torrential downpour in Hong Kong and flood warnings have been issued for low-lying areas in the city. Other cities such as Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai were also put on high alert.

Flights were cancelled in Shenzhen and Hainan in anticipation of the storm. According to Chinese media, over 2.45 million people have been evacuated in Guangdong province as the typhoon made landfall at 5 pm (local time) on Sunday.

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