[ti:Remittances Are Important But Distort the Economy] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:Economics] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.32]this is the Economics Report. [00:05.17]Many immigrants send small amounts of money [00:08.98]- called "remittances" - home to friends and family. [00:13.35]But those small amounts of money together [00:16.52]add up to a lot, consider that there are [00:21.02]about 200 million international migrants. [00:24.67]In 2013, migrants around the world [00:28.72]sent $400 billion back to their home countries, [00:34.05]that is much more than official aid to many countries. [00:39.60]For some nations, it is the biggest provider of foreign exchange. [00:45.86]Jean Claude Kazadi and his wife Myriam [00:49.57]came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo. [00:54.84]They quickly began sending money home after they arrived. [01:00.26]They wanted to help family members left behind. [01:04.97]"We believe in supporting each other. [01:07.63]We believe in supporting our parents, specifically, [01:11.69]and we believe in supporting our brothers and sisters," Kazadi said. [01:15.14]Jean Claude Kazadi is a doctor who works on HIV Aids [01:20.21]for Catholic Relief Services in Maryland. [01:24.17]He often visits the Democratic Republic of Congo, [01:28.17]and he hopes he is helping Africans with his work. [01:32.99]But he knows the $400 he sends to his parents every month is important. [01:39.86]Economist Adolfo Barajas of the International Monetary Fund(IMF) [01:46.39]has studied remittances for ten years. [01:51.40]He has seen their effects on economies. [01:54.96]"They have been growing tremendously from 1990 to 2010; [02:00.17]they grew more than sevenfold," Barajas said. [02:02.79]Mr. Barajas says a huge migration has driven this flow of money [02:08.51]to countries around the world. [02:10.78]But he says there are problems with governments [02:14.54]receiving large amounts of money. [02:16.90]They may use the money less effectively. [02:20.52]Economists have said that remittances help families [02:24.98]who receive them by increasing their income. [02:28.90]But there is a concern that the income into a national economy [02:34.10]will cause its money to increase in value. [02:37.31]In turn, a country's exports can become more costly and less competitively. [02:44.76]However, economists agree that remittances [02:48.41]affect the receiving country's economy in good ways. [02:52.56]Dilip Ratha is a remittance expert with the World Bank. [02:57.98]He says remittances help improve people's lives. [03:03.03]"They provide incomes, they provide a lifeline for people, [03:06.81]they reduce poverty, they provide funding for business investment, [03:10.42]human capital investments, education, health," Ratha said. [03:13.48]Economists say that private investors leave when contries are in conflict. [03:19.08]But Dilip Ratha says remitters like the Kazadis [03:24.99]of the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to send assistance. [03:30.11]"Because that is precisely when the needs of the families left behind increase. [03:35.16]And to meet those needs, migrants send money home," says Ratha. [03:39.73]For Myriam and Jean Claude Kazadi, [03:42.49]it is a simple case of showing their parents that they have not forgotten them. [03:47.71]And that is the Economics Report from VOA Learning English. [03:54.17]I'm Mario Ritter. [03:56.21]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com