India Foreign remittance surpasses $23billion

Monday, 18 April , 2005, 10:21

Indians remittances to the country from abroad have soared considerably over the years to touch $23
billion in 2004, according to World Bank statistics.

According the latest Global Development Finance report prepared by the World Bank, India received
$17.4 billion in 2003 from the workers living and working in other countries. The latest figures
place India much ahead of China and other developing countries like Mexico and Brazil. At the
exchange rate that prevailed in 2003, the inward remittances amounted to about Rs 84,000 crore,
which was more than double the amount that government collected as income tax during the financial
year. The actual remittances may be much higher as flows through informal channels, such as hawala,
are not captured in the official statistics but are believed to be quite large, the report points
out.

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