APD | Slow employment brings UAE remittances down

By APD writer Muhammad Sohail

Remittances from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fell nearly eight percent in the first half of 2019 as both the quarters saw a decline due to a slowdown in employment, official data showed Monday.

Central Bank data revealed that remittances fell from Dh87.92 billion (23.96 billion U.S. dollars) in H1 2018 to Dh80.96 billion in the corresponding period this year. First-quarter remittances fell from Dh43.5 billion to Dh38.4 billion while second-quarter saw remittance declining from Dh44.42 billion to Dh42.55 billion.

"The annual growth rate of outward personal remittances during April-June 2019 was recorded at negative 4.2 percent, a significant reduction compared to the growth for the same period in 2018 of 8.8 percent. The slowdown in outward personal remittances is in line with the slowdown in employment," The Central Bank said.

A total of Dh33.046 billion thereof were transferred through money exchange companies and the rest from the banks operating in the country.

The highest destination country for outward personal remittances during April-June 2019 was India at 37.2 percent. This high share is in accordance with the significant share of expats from India working in the UAE.

According to the latest UAE population statistics published by the Global Media Insight, 59.5 percent of the expat population in the UAE originate from South Asian countries, and expats from India account for 27.5 percent of the total expat population in the UAE. (1 U.S. dollar = 3.67 UAE Dirham).

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)