G20 Development Working Group Submissions
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regarding capacity building of local remittances
operators, modernization of legislation, new
financial products, and local investments for
migrants; and
improving transparency and competition
in remittance markets by funding price
comparison websites (www.send moneypacific.
org, www.sendmoneyasia.org and WWW.
sendmoneyafrica.org).
Despite these efforts, reductions in global average
remittance costs have been relatively small.
According to the World Bank, in the first quarter of
2013 the costs fell to 9.05 % from just below 10
% in 2011. Yet, falling short of a target does not
equate with failure. As MDGs demonstrated, targets
help shape common expectations and drive action
to achieve outcomes. By providing a clear yardstick
for assessing progress, targets can also foster
greater transparency and accountability. To do this
in a balanced way, however, the target does need
to be realistic.
Lessons Learned
Lessons learned from the implementation of the G20
remittance target include:
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A G20 target, even if overambitious, can serve
as a useful tool for increasing political pressure on
an important issue at international and national
levels by sustaining the pressure required to
maintain focus among G20 members.
The target selected in 2010 was not drawn from
a clear evidence-based analysis of what was
achievable by 2014 and used metric that was
not precise enough (costs for the current target
are given as a simple average, but a weighted
average is more realistic). This has undermined
the extent to which the target was able to provide
a balanced and fair yardstick for measuring
progress.
Since setting the target, strong links between
remittances and the G20's financial inclusion
agenda have become more apparent. What
has been missing, however, is a focus on
remittances in the G20's GPFI, where practical
http://www.unglobalpulse.org/pulse-lab/jakarta
http://www.social-protection.org/gimi/gess
http://www.socialprotection.org/
work on financial services is being advanced.
DWG efforts related to the remittance target
could have been more closely aligned with the
key G20 Development Principles. For instance,
the DWG could have targeted greater "private
sector participation" in this area given that
private sector innovations are a key driver of
lower costs in remittance markets. Additionally,
greater focus could be put on financial literacy
for migrants and recipients.
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