Coronavirus Threatens Incomes That Migrants Send Home
Economies that depend on remittances are in a precarious situation.
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Millions of families — and many national economies — are highly dependent on the regular flow of personal remittances: money or other assets that migrants send back to their home countries. In 2018, the total sum remitted worldwide was more than $637 billion and, prior to Covid-19, was expected to rise dramatically.
The result of this network of global financial interdependence is that the distress of the world’s major economies is likely to have an impact far beyond their shores. For example, more than 40% of Tonga’s 2018 gross domestic product came from money sent into the country via remittances.