Ralph Chami: Umbilical Cord of Remittances Under Threat

IMF Podcasts

The pandemic is crippling economies across the globe but for many countries, the economic shock will be magnified by the loss of remittances—money sent home by migrant and guest workers employed in foreign countries. Ralph Chami is an Assistant Director for the Institute for Capacity Development at the IMF. In this podcast, he says remittances are a lifeline for low-income and fragile states and when migrants lose their jobs those remittance flows stop. Chami says it's in everyone's interest for host countries to help support migrant workers through the pandemic.

Chami and IMF Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Sayeh co-authored Lifelines in Danger published in the June 2020 issue of Finance and Development Magazine.

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