Remittances to Cambodia drop sharply due to COVID-19
Cambodia is to join the ranks of declining overseas worker remittances this year after the World Bank projected global remittances will decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 because of the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent business shutdowns.
Cambodian workers returning from Thailand (Photo: Cambodian Immigration Department)
Phnom Penh (VNA) - Cambodia is to join the ranks of decliningoverseas worker remittances this year after the World Bank projected globalremittances will decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 because of theeconomic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent businessshutdowns.
Global remittances to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) areprojected to fall by 19.7 percent to 445 billion USD, according to the WorldBank.
This would reduce money sent back home by Cambodia's more than 1.2million workers in countries such as Thailand, the Republic of Korea (RoK),Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Malaysia and Saudi Arabia substantiallyfrom the 2.8 billion USD remitted last year.
The RoK andThailand are the largest source of remittances to Cambodia.
The reportshows more than 60,000 migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos leftThailand amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, raising fears of cross‐borderinfections.
Ngeth Chou,a senior consultant for Emerging Markets Consulting, has estimated thatCambodia could lose about 90 million USD for six months of remittances fromThailand.
There are 50,000 Cambodian migrant workers who have returned fromThailand because of the pandemic and, on average, they send money back homeabout 300 USD a month, he said.
Accordingto data from ACLEDA Bank Plc, money sent back home by only Cambodian workersfrom the RoK during the first quarter 2020 was 3.5 million USD with 1,373transactions, a decrease from 6.2 million USD with 2,270 transactions in thesame period last year.
Remittance flows to the East Asia and Pacific region grew by 2.6 percentto 147 billion USD in 2019, but are expected to decline by 13 percent in 2020./.
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Cambodian workers returning from Thailand (Photo: Cambodian Immigration Department) 
