Indian expats send home $55b in 2009

Remittances to India increased to 55 billion dollars in 2009, making the country the biggest recipient of money from overseas migrant workers, a report said Friday.
India has been the world's top remittance earner for more than a decade and depends on the money transfers as a key source of finance along with foreign direct investment.
The 2009 figure of 55.06 billion dollars was up seven percent from 51.6 billion dollars in 2008, the Economic Times said, citing central bank data, and just two billion dollars a year in the late 1980s.
The increase in remittances came despite the financial crisis and global economic slowdown last year which had been expected to hit migrant labour.
The central bank attributed the higher remittances to India being perceived as a relatively safe option during the financial crisis, a hike in interest rates on non-resident deposits and new investment products.
China is second behind India in remittances, receiving 48 billion dollars and Mexico is third with flows of 26 billion dollars, according to figures for 2008 compiled by the World Bank.