The debilitating cost of remittances

The Debilitating Cost of Remittances | Economic Empowerment | GZERO Media

Dilip Ratha knows how hard it is to work abroad and send money home. Why? Because he had to go through the same hoops when he was a migrant.

It's the inconvenience and the cost, the World Bank's head of KNOMAD and lead economist says during a livestream conversation on closing the global digital gap hosted by GZERO in partnership with Visa.

Still, Ratha points out, these flows are a lifeline for millions of poor families around the world. And they keep the lights on in remittance-dependent economies like El Salvador or Lebanon.

With an average 6% commission, the amount lost each year is double all the aid that the US gives to the entire world or what sub-Saharan Africa gets.

Watch our recent livestream discussion on digital payments, the unbanked, remittances, and other tools for economic empowerment.

More from GZERO Media

U.S. President Donald Trump hosts his first cabinet meeting with Elon Musk in attendance as he sits next to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 26, 2025.

REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Donald Trump hosted the first Cabinet meeting of his second administration on Wednesday. Here’s what went down.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a press conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 26, 2025.
REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Ukraine agreed on Wednesday to cede control over a substantial share of future mineral riches to the United States, part of a sweeping deal US President Donald Trump has suggested as a condition for continuing to support Kyiv. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the deal – which his administration says is worth $500 billion – is about “rare earths.”

Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown, seen here at the White House in Washington, in 2023.

REUTERS/Leah Millis

The Cook Islands’ recent entry into a strategic partnership with China has spawned protests in front of Parliament, angered long-time ally New Zealand, and this week, nearly toppled the islands’ government.

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa talks to attendees during a national dialogue in Damascus, Syria, February 25, 2025.
REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Israel has demanded the complete demilitarization of Southern Syria -- why?

- YouTube

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Ukraine PresidentZelensky once called Trump’s critical minerals deal “colonial.” Now, he's close to signing it. What’s behind the shift—and who really wins here? Ian Bremmer examines in this Quick Take.

U.S. President Donald Trump hosts his first cabinet meeting with Elon Musk in attendance, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Feb. 26, 2025.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder

What happens when you ask artificial intelligence to create a video of gilded Trump statues (straight out of Turkmenistan) and new Trump Hotels (straight out of Atlantic City) featuring an up-tempo, pro-Trump track (straight from the J6 Prison Choir’s club remix album)? You get the US president’s Truth Social post advertising his postwar Gaza proposal, of course.

Romanian far-right presidential election candidate Calin Georgescu delivers a press statement at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, on Dec. 19, 2024.
Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS

Last November, a Romanian election generated shock headlines across Europe when an obscure pro-Russia, anti-vaccine populist named Călin Georgescu finished first in the initial round of voting. The Romanian government annulled the election result, blaming Russian influence but failing to prove there was interference. On Wednesday, police detained Georgescu as part of an investigation into possible violations of an anti-extremism law. What lies ahead for Romanian democracy?