06 August 2009
KUWAIT: Sharif, an Egyptian expatriate, was queuing in a local money exchange bureau clutching money in his hand and filing his family's receipt data. Right before the clerk wired the amount he had provided, Sharif changed his mind and told the employee at the exchange bureau to reduce the amount he initially filled out in his money order. "Let it be KD 70 instead of 150," he said.
Sharif's story about the decline amount he can send back home is similar to other stories many other expatriates have. Many have cut in half the amount they are repatriating from Kuwait.
Sharif was laid off from a bank job and is now working with a private company for half the salary he used to make prior to the economic slowdown. "I will manage to stay at this job only to live through the tough times and until the situation gets better here. Then I will be able to get a better opportunity," he said.
Sarah, 27, who came to Kuwait two years ago to work in sales, used to send money home regularly. Arriving in the pre-recession period, she made a plan to cover her credit card debts and car loans with the bonus and promised pay raise she was set to receive after her first two years. Her dreams went dry once the company she joined started cutting down on expenditures. "Now I cannot send my parents back home the same amount I used to send," she said, adding that the reason was because she now had to cover her debts.
For a country like the Philippines, whose economy is heavily reliant on the repatriation of funds from all over the world, and particularly from the Gulf region, the plummet in the amount of money sent could mean fewer jobs.
According to Dr. Chie Umandap, leader of the Filipino community in Kuwait, although Filipino expats who have families in the Philippines continue to send the same amount on a regular basis, the repatriated funds from single Filipinos in Kuwait has been reduced. As of late, some reductions in the amounts sent by Filipino expatriates in Kuwait was recorded, Dr. Umandap said. According to Dr. Umandap, the reduced amounts were mainly sent by single expatriates in particular.
The problem started when the value of the Kuwaiti Dinar fell and prices in the Philippines continued to rise. "I used to send KD 250 per month. Now I am sending the same amount, but the rate is lower back there," he added.
According to money exchange bureaus, the repatriation situation is not as gloomy as it is painted out to be. According to Sadasiva Rao, business development manager of Al-Muzaini Exchange, the allocations are generally increasing and not reducing. He explained that Kuwait has not noticed as many cases of unemployment as in the UAE, for instance, and this was reflected in the amount of money expatriates in Kuwait regularly allocate to send home. "The reduction of money transfers of expatriates does not pass five percent," he explained. He pointed out that various currencies are losing their value as well and this has helped money allocation to maintain almost the same rate.
Dr. Luqman Ibrahim, chief auditor and training manager at the Kuwaiti Bahraini International Money Exchange, agrees with Mr. Rao in the fact that the crisis has not affected the money transfers of expatriates. "Transfers are mostly the same," he said. He explained that no large differences were spotted in the transactions and the amount of money transferred.
KUWAIT: Sharif, an Egyptian expatriate, was queuing in a local money exchange bureau clutching money in his hand and filing his family's receipt data. Right before the clerk wired the amount he had provided, Sharif changed his mind and told the employee at the exchange bureau to reduce the amount he initially filled out in his money order. "Let it be KD 70 instead of 150," he said.
Sharif's story about the decline amount he can send back home is similar to other stories many other expatriates have. Many have cut in half the amount they are repatriating from Kuwait.
Sharif was laid off from a bank job and is now working with a private company for half the salary he used to make prior to the economic slowdown. "I will manage to stay at this job only to live through the tough times and until the situation gets better here. Then I will be able to get a better opportunity," he said.
Sarah, 27, who came to Kuwait two years ago to work in sales, used to send money home regularly. Arriving in the pre-recession period, she made a plan to cover her credit card debts and car loans with the bonus and promised pay raise she was set to receive after her first two years. Her dreams went dry once the company she joined started cutting down on expenditures. "Now I cannot send my parents back home the same amount I used to send," she said, adding that the reason was because she now had to cover her debts.
For a country like the Philippines, whose economy is heavily reliant on the repatriation of funds from all over the world, and particularly from the Gulf region, the plummet in the amount of money sent could mean fewer jobs.
According to Dr. Chie Umandap, leader of the Filipino community in Kuwait, although Filipino expats who have families in the Philippines continue to send the same amount on a regular basis, the repatriated funds from single Filipinos in Kuwait has been reduced. As of late, some reductions in the amounts sent by Filipino expatriates in Kuwait was recorded, Dr. Umandap said. According to Dr. Umandap, the reduced amounts were mainly sent by single expatriates in particular.
The problem started when the value of the Kuwaiti Dinar fell and prices in the Philippines continued to rise. "I used to send KD 250 per month. Now I am sending the same amount, but the rate is lower back there," he added.
According to money exchange bureaus, the repatriation situation is not as gloomy as it is painted out to be. According to Sadasiva Rao, business development manager of Al-Muzaini Exchange, the allocations are generally increasing and not reducing. He explained that Kuwait has not noticed as many cases of unemployment as in the UAE, for instance, and this was reflected in the amount of money expatriates in Kuwait regularly allocate to send home. "The reduction of money transfers of expatriates does not pass five percent," he explained. He pointed out that various currencies are losing their value as well and this has helped money allocation to maintain almost the same rate.
Dr. Luqman Ibrahim, chief auditor and training manager at the Kuwaiti Bahraini International Money Exchange, agrees with Mr. Rao in the fact that the crisis has not affected the money transfers of expatriates. "Transfers are mostly the same," he said. He explained that no large differences were spotted in the transactions and the amount of money transferred.
By Nisreen Zahreddine
© Kuwait Times 2009
