Foreign workers in M'sia sent home $6.1 bn

It was about 13.4 billion ringgit in 2010, he said.

The amount had gone up due to an increase of access to non-banking financial institutions that allowed foreigners to transfer their money to their home countries, he told opposition MP Ko Chung Sen during question time.

Ko had asked the ministry to state the amount of money remitted overseas every year by foreign workers and to which country.

Maslan also said that the top five countries with the highest number of over-seas remittance last year were Bangladesh (3.3 billion ringgit), Indonesia (2.95 billion ringgit), Nepal (1.99 billion ringgit), India (625 million ringgit) and the Philippines (561.3 million).

“As a country that has a high level of savings, Malaysia does not depend on external foreign financing to support the function of its domestic economy. However, due to an open trade and the financial system, with strong economic fundamentals, Malaysia will continue to be a recipient of foreign capital inflow,” Maslan said.

He said that due to the uncertainty in global financial markets, Malaysia’s outflow of foreign capital was still at a moderate level, showing a reversal in parts of the outflow.

“Most importantly, we must note that the reversal of capital is also experienced by other developing economies, including our neighbouring countries, and not just Malaysia,” he said.