India received remittances to the tune of $27 billion in first six months of the current financial year, retaining its top position in the sector.
The Overseas Indian Affairs Minister, Mr Vayalar Ravi, said according to a World Bank report India continued to be the largest recipient of the remittances from diaspora in 2010.
He said India received a total of $53.9 billion as remittances in the year 2009-10 while in 2008-09, the amount was $46.9 billion.
World bank report
“According to the World Bank report, India continues to be the largest recipient of the remittances from diaspora in 2010,” he said replying to a question in Lok Sabha.
Indian expats
The World Bank had earlier in a report said Indian expatriates are expected to remit about $55 billion into the country this year.
India is likely to stay as the top receiver of remittances in 2010, as inflows of $51 billion to China keep it a place down while Mexico at third spot is expecting $22.6 billion from its overseas population.
Record inflows likely
The World Bank in its ‘Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011' report had said worldwide inflows are expected to reach $440 billion by the year-end, with remittances to developing nations likely to reach a record $325 billion from the 2009 figure of $307 billion.
The top remitting countries in 2009 were the US ($48.3 billion), Saudi Arabia ($26 billion) and Switzerland ($19.6 billion).
Resilient inflow
Remittances remained resilient of external financing during the recent global financial crisis and were steady despite the pangs of financial reconstruction in the developed world, the report had said.