As per the World Bank release on Monday, India once again retained its top position in respect of remittance received from its Indian diaspora abroad. In 2017, inflows into India amounted to some $69 billion.

World over remittances are said to have been improved with India being the topper followed by China ($64 billion), the Philippines ($33 billion), Mexico ($31 billion), Nigeria ($22 billion), and Egypt ($20 billion).

In a report, the World Bank said while the remittances from immigrants back to India have grown, it is to be noted that the cost of remitting funds has also gone up at the same time.

In some of the economies, the increase in remittance is a trigger to a country's growth and when calculated in dollar terms, the increase is owed to a surge in crude oil price and the strengthening of some of the currencies including ruble and the euro.

The report further added, "Remittances are expected to continue to increase in 2018, by 4.1 per cent to reach USD 485 billion. Global remittances are expected to grow 4.6 per cent to USD 642 billion in 2018".

The barriers to reduce remittance costs are exclusive tie-ups between national post office and money transfer agents on the one hand and de-risking by banks on the other. So, these in turn are being a road-block in the use of evolved technologies for remittance such as the use of crypto and blockchain.

With PTI Inputs