LONG neglected by development experts, there is now growing enthusiasm over the role that remittances play in shifting wealth to poor countries. This is partly because of a greater awareness of the scale of the flow. Some 200m people are thought to be migrants and many of them send cash to relatives back home. For some small countries, such as Moldova, repatriated funds account for a large share of GDP, and even for bigger countries, such as Mexico, the billions of dollars received are roughly as sizeable as foreign direct investment. Rich countries, too, with many migrants abroad, benefit from large flows of remittances. Some doubt their efficacy, noting that most funds are quickly consumed by recipients rather than invested, but their role in cutting poverty is significant.

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