Qatar foreign workers sent nearly $200 million less remittances in 2013, according to reports from Arabian Business.
Using data from the second quarter of this year, Qatar's Central Bank reported that expatriates sent home only QAR9 billion ($2.47 billion) in 2013 versus QAR9.7 billion from the same time period last year, representing a decrease of 7 percent.
A World Bank report suggests that the recorded decrease was due to the fact that expats were sending money through unofficial, off-the-record methods.
According to the report, “The high cost of sending money through official channels continues to be an obstacle to the utilisation of remittances for development purposes, as people seek out informal channels as their preferred means for sending money home.”
