Pvt remittances from US to India totalled $3.2 billion in 2009

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Feb 25 (PTI) India received USD 3.2 billionin private remittances from the United States in 2009, almostthe same as China, a new Congressional report has said.

In 2009, 10 countries accounted for over USD 32 billion,or about 40 per cent, of net private remittances and relatedflows from the United States, said the Congressional BudgetOffice in its report, "Migrant''s Remittances and RelatedEconomic Flows."

People in Mexico received about USD 20 billion, thelargest single share by far, about 61 per cent of the totalreceipts for the 10 countries.

"People in India and China received over USD 3 billioneach and together accounted for about 20 per cent of the totalfor those 10 countries," said the 28-page report.

"Between 2000 and 2009, net private remittances andrelated flows to those 10 countries grew by an average of 7per cent per year (not adjusted for inflation)," it said.

"Such transfers to people in India experienceddouble-digit growth over the period, rising from USD 1.1billion in 2000 to USD 3.2 billion in 2009, an averageincrease of 13 per cent per year," the report said.

Transfers to people in China rose from USD 1.5 billion in2000 to USD 3.2 billion in 2009, an average increase of 9 percent per year.

Such transfers to Canada were erratic over the period;they rose from USD 0.5 billion in 2000 to USD 2.2 billion in2009, but net outflows from Canada occurred in some of theintervening years.

Although a substantial share of net private remittancesand related flows went to 10 countries -- Mexico, China,India, Canada, Korea, Brazil, Netherlands, Luxembourg , Taiwanand Japan -� other countries experienced faster growth in suchtransfers over the past decade, the report said.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates thatmigrants'' remittances totaled about USD 48 billion in 2009 --nearly 70 per cent more than official development assistanceprovided by the US government.

Nearly USD 38 billion of that amount was personaltransfers by foreign-born residents in the United States tohouseholds abroad.

The rest, about USD 11 billion, reflected thecompensation of employees who were in the United States forless than a year. Some of that compensation, however, wasspent in the United States.