Covid: Remittances from Gulf fell sharply in FY21

Mumbai: The share of inward remittances from Gulf nations dipped sharply during 2020-21 on account of the economic stress created by the COVID-19 pandemic, said an RBI article.

On the other hand, advanced economies like the US, the UK and Singapore emerged as important sources for the country for remittances, accounting for 36 per cent of the total payments in 2020-21, the article said citing an RBI survey.

To analyse the factors contributing to the resilience of remittances and to understand to what extent the pandemic has changed the underlying dynamics of remittances flow, the Reserve Bank of India conducted the fifth round of the Survey on Remittances for the year 2020-21.

"...the share of remittances from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region in India's inward remittances is estimated to have declined from more than 50 per cent in 2016-17 (last surveyed period) to about 30 per cent in 2020-21," said the article prepared by the officials in the Dept of Economic& Policy Research, RBI.

Overall, notwithstanding headwinds of COVID-19, India's inward remittances have proven to be a resilient source of current account receipts, the article published in the RBI's July bulletin said.