Dept projects increase in remittance
KATHMANDU, APR 08:
The recent salary hike of Nepali migrants in Gulf countries will contribute a significant amount in remittance earned from those countries, according to the Department of Foreign Employment.
Nepal received about Rs 359.55 billion last year and the current hike in salaries will help increase it more, it said, projecting that the new minimum wage in Gulf countries — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait — will help increase remittance by at least Rs 2.99 billion per month.
“The department believes that remittance from those countries will increase by about Rs 35.99 billion this year,” said former director general at the department Purnachandra Bhattarai.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment hiked the salary in four major destinations — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait — between October 2012 and February 2013. About two million Nepali migrant workers are working in the destinations and the outflow of Nepalis to these destinations has also been high in recent months.
Gulf countries — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Lebanon — have a two-third share in remittance to Nepal. According to the Second Nepal Labour Force Survey, Qatar was the highest — 21.3 per cent —remittance sending country and Saudi Arabia had sent around 14.9 per cent in 2008. The survey did not study remittance from other countries in the Gulf region.
The destinations have hired 146,422 fresh workers in the last eight months of the current fiscal year, including 54,762 in Saudi Arabia, 48,928 in Qatar, 34,402 in UAE, and 8,322 in Kuwait. According to the department, about 50,000 Nepalis have joined jobs in Gulf countries under the new salary scale and they will start sending more remittance than earlier.
The ministry had hiked the minimum wage of Nepali workers with $240 (Rs 21,069) as the base level. The ministry has set Qatari Riyal 1,200 (Rs 28,934) for Qatar, Saudi Riyal 1,100 (Rs 26,290) for Saudi Arabia, Emirati Dirham 1,000 (Rs 23,409) for UAE, and Kuwaiti Dinar 60 (Rs 18,447) for Kuwait. However, the minimum wage set in Kuwait is below the standard level.
Meanwhile, outsourcing agencies do not believe that the minimum salary hike will have an impact to that extent. “It will definitely increase the remittance flow but not at that level,” said president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies Bal Bahadur Tamang. “Just 20 per cent to 55 per cent demands have been meeting the new wage structure. Outsourcing agencies have been using counterfeit demands for foreign job permits,” he said.
According to him, the new wage structure is ineffective as it was enforced without consultations with outsourcing agencies. “The government just hikes the salary without studying the job markets. It is all done on the advice of diplomats based in those countries who do not have labour market knowledge,” said Tamang, adding that a comprehensive market study is a must to set wages. The government has ignored the basic rule, he said.
Tamang suggested the government to advocate the new salary scale at the diplomatic or at the government level for effective enforcement. The government has not informed about the new minimum wage structure to the governments of receiving countries, so there is no chance of an increment in the earnings of workers or remittance, he added.
Labour expert Dr Chiranjivi Nepal has said that the salary hike is a propaganda of the Dr Baburam Bhattarai government. “There is no independent verification that government has enforced minimum wage. Hence, there is always a doubt,” he said. According to him, the government must build an independent committee to study the enforcement of the minimum wage.
New minimum wage
Qatar QR 1,200 (Rs 28,934)
Saudi Arabia SR 1,100 (Rs 26,290)
UAE ED 1,000 (Rs 23,409)
Kuwait KD 60 (Rs 18,447)
Source: Department of Foreign Employment/ THT
