The World Bank (WB) Thursday flow of said remittances to developing countries including Bangladesh, India and China is expected to reach US$351 billion this year as the high oil prices in the middle-east has helped the nations.

The global lender in its Migration and Development Brief report, released Thursday in Geneva, also said the worldwide remittances, including those to high-income countries, will reach $406 billion in the current calendar year.

The Bank's report received by the FE said India is expected to secure top position on the list of the remittance recipients in 2011 with its $58 billion inflow, China second position with $57 billion, Mexico third with $24 billion and the Philippines fourth with $23 billion.

Other large remittance recipients include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Vietnam, Egypt and Lebanon, the WB report said.

The WB said while the economic slowdown is dampening employment prospects for migrant workers in some high-income countries, global remittances, nevertheless, are expected to stay on a growth path and, by 2014, may reach $515 billion.

The Washington-based lender observed that high oil prices have provided a cushion for remittances to Central Asia from Russia and to South and East Asia from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Also, a depreciation of currencies of some large migrant-exporting countries (including Mexico, India and Bangladesh) created additional incentives for remittances as goods and services in these countries became cheaper in U.S. dollar terms, it added.

"Despite the global economic crisis that has impacted private capital flows, remittance flows to developing countries have remained resilient, posting an estimated growth of 8 percent in 2011," said Hans Timmer, Director of the Bank's Development Prospects Group.

"Remittance flows to all developing regions have grown this year, for the first time since the financial crisis," he added.

The WB report said remittance flows to four of the six World Bank-designated developing regions grew faster than expected, by 11 percent to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 10.1 percent to South Asia, 7.6 percent to East Asia and Pacific and 7.4 percent to Sub-Saharan Africa, despite the difficult economic conditions in Europe and other destinations of African migrants.

The Bank expects continued growth in remittance flows, by 7.3 percent in 2012, 7.9 percent in 2013 and 8.4 percent in 2014.

The WB, however, pointed out some serious downside risks for international remittance and migration flows.

"Persistent unemployment in Europe and the U.S. is affecting employment prospects of existing migrants and hardening political attitudes toward new immigration.

Volatile exchange rates and uncertainty about the direction of oil prices also present further risks to the outlook for remittances," it said.

Source: The Daily Finance/ Bangladesh/ 2nd Dec 2011