In its Migration and Development Briefing Note, the World Bank reported that remittances to the Middle East and North Africa region are expected to fall by 8% in 2020 to $55 billion due to the global economic slowdown. The organisation pointed out that in Egypt, the first country concerned in the region, workers residing abroad have increased the amount of one-off transfers to their families. However, these shipments will eventually decline significantly due to falling oil prices and the economic slowdown in the Gulf countries.
With respect to transfer costs, the World Bank briefing note revealed that the average rate for sending US$200 to the Middle East region increased in the third quarter of 2020 to 7.5% from 6.8% in 2019. In Jordan and Egypt, the cost of transfers from Gulf countries reached 4%. The note mentioned that these costs differ across channels and explained that the costs of money transfers from high-income OECD countries to Lebanon still exceed 9%.
The briefing note said that all countries that receive money transfers will experience a decline during this year, like Egypt (-9%), Jordan (-12%), Morocco (-5%) and Tunisia (-15%).
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