Nation Marks First Ever Int'l Day of Family Remittances

Addis Ababa June 20/2023 (ENA)  Ethiopia marked its first ever International Day of Family Remittances today.    

Briefing the media on the occasion, Ethiopian Diaspora Service Director-General Mohammed Endris said the event is organized to recognize the significance of remittance.

 

He pointed out the significance of remittances in family poverty reduction and their interconnectedness with the diaspora.

According to the director-general, remittance is one of the Sustainable Development Goals and the remittances of some countries takes up to 40-50% of the GDP.

"We are also working to enhance the ratio of the remittance to GDP,’’ he added. The remittance the diaspora send to Ethiopia is 5 percent.

With a serious engagement of the Ethiopian Diaspora, the flow can be doubled within 5-7 years, Mohammed added 

However, the director-general stressed the need for mobilization, bank reform, and policy reform to make sending of remittances easy, legal, and cheaper. 

The remittance sent to Ethiopia during the last nine months was 3.8 billion USD.  

Mohammed finally noted that remittance is threefold greater than the direct development assistance to developing countries from developed countries. Therefore, it has a significance contribution to countries development.