Emigrants fuel world economy says WB: Albania 13 percent of GDP in remittances

TIRANA, Sept. 25- The World Bank has published recently data that show remittances to be a primary fuel for world economy with millions of emigrants worldwide sending money back home. This phenomenon has made money transfer companies very successful and has propped up the poor economies of several countries. For the year 2006 the total amount of transferred money from emigrants was no less than $ 276 billion, double the amount since six years ago. Indian economics expert Dilip Ratha reveals some curiosities about the money transfers that have increased given globalizations stronger hold on population movements. “Remittances are now larger than FDI in Mexico, tea export in Sri Lanka and all revenues from the Suez Canal in Egypt,” Ratha explains. Mexico and India have record amounts of inflows. Albania as well has impressive figures when it comes to remittances. According to the WB report Albanian emigrants sent back home in 2006 no less than $ 1.3 billion , or 13 percent of the GDP and more importantly financing half of the trade deficit that the country has. Most of the world’s immigration is illegal and the labor done from emigrants is largely unqualified, though exceptions exist. Emigration is often connected with other phenomena like brain drain which for Albania have reached alarming levels. Ilir Gedeshi, head of the center for Economic and Social Studies in Albania explains that emigrants have locked up 14 billion in foreign banks and even the next generation has clear aims to leave the country given the present conditions. The same is repeated by Elvin Meka, which heads the Albanian Association of Banks who says that the cash we receive from abroad is because of the people we export there.(Tirana Times Staff)