Endo, Isaku; Afram, Gabi G.
Description:
Remittance inflows play a crucial role
in Nepal's economy. Officially recorded remittances
already amounted to almost a quarter of the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) in 2009. The 2008-09 global economic crises
resulted in slower growth of remittance inflows in Nepal,
leading directly to lower disposable income. This is a
telling reminder of the importance of promoting a supportive
environment for remittances. Nepali migration continues to
increase as workers seek greater economic opportunities
abroad. In this quest, Qatar is one of the important
migration destinations for Nepali migrant workers. This
report analyzes the migration and remittance transfer
processes in the Qatar-Nepal Corridor in order to provide
policy recommendations that would help improve the scale and
impact of remittance transfers from Qatar to Nepal, and
enhance the efficiency and integrity of migration and
remittances in the corridor. The report identifies
challenges in the migration process from Nepal to Qatar
(related to high migration costs and their financing) and
constraints in the remittance transfer process from Qatar to
Nepal, which together limit the development and poverty
reduction impact of remittance flows to Nepali households.
As this report highlights, the Qatar-Nepal remittance
corridor has several distinctive features. First, the
majority of remittance flows from Qatar to Nepal are being
transferred through officially regulated remittance
channels. One of the reasons for this is actually the second
feature of this corridor, namely, the officially managed
migration process from Nepal to Qatar (as a result of which
the majority of migrants are documented workers). The third
feature is the contrast between the high competition and low
prices of remittance services in this corridor on the one
hand, and the contradictory rules and high costs incurred
during the migration process on the other hand. Finally, as
a by-product of the complex migration process which involves
multiple players, financial transfers through informal
mechanisms take place from Nepal to Qatar in order to pay
the commissions of manpower agencies and middlemen.