IOM Launches Study on Impact of Remittances on Pakistan's Development
IOM today launched a study investigating the impact of remittance
flows from Pakistani migrant workers in Saudi Arabia on their
families back home.
The study, commissioned at the request of the government, was
funded by IOM's 1035 Facility for member states and targets an area
that suffers from a dearth of empirical data.
"The research will help key stakeholders in the government to
draft new legislation enhancing the development impact of these
remittances on local, regional and national levels in Pakistan. It
may also help to improve remittance services for Pakistani workers
in Saudi Arabia," says IOM Regional Representative for West and
Central Asia Hassan Abdel Moneim Mostafa.
Working with the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics
(PIDE), the Ministry of Labour, and the Bureau of Emigration, IOM
conducted a household survey in nine high-migration districts in
Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and
Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Cities covered included Rawalpindi,
Gjuranwala, Lahore and DG Khan.
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target="_blank" title="">Economic and Social Impacts of Remittances
on Households: The Case of Pakistani Migrants Working in Saudi
Arabia
The survey covered 500 migrant-sending households in both rural
and urban areas and was carried out from June through August 2009,
when Pakistan was struggling to cope with three million people
displaced by conflict in the northwest of the country.
The researchers used a detailed, structured questionnaire,
developed jointly by IOM and PIDE, to elicit information from
respondents in each household.
The study showed that overseas migrants are relatively young and
that their level of education is much higher than the national
average.
The review of earnings and savings of migrants showed that
migrant workers were able to double their monthly savings to 41
percent of household monthly income.
The average total remittances received per household from the
time the migrants went abroad were Rs 1.05 million (USD
13,145).
The analysis also revealed that a large proportion of
remittances are used in four areas - real estate and agricultural
machinery, food, marriages and savings.
One of the more interesting aspects of the study was that the
global economic crisis (2008-09) had very little impact on the
outflows of workers or inflows of remittances to Pakistan.
Among its key recommendations for reaping the developmental
benefits of remittances to Pakistan, the study suggests that the
cost of overseas migration needs to be reduced by improving the
recruitment system and controlling exploitative practices by
middlemen.
It also notes that Pakistan's banking sector needs to become
more efficient if it is to induce migrants to use formal banking
channels to remit their money. Formal channels can offer the
opportunity for remittances to be invested in such a way that they
contribute more to Pakistan's development.
The study also suggests that a new comprehensive migration
policy should be integrated into Pakistan's overall development
strategy.
For more information please contact:
Saleem Rehmat
IOM Islamabad
Tel: +92-300-856 0341
E-mail:
"mailto:srehmat@iom.int">srehmat@iom.int