 On 22nd April 2020, that is yesterday, the World Bank issued a press release, quite gloomy and disheartening projections regarding the world economy, in light of the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown. Global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20%. The predicted drop would be the harshest fall in the recent history. This is largely due to fall in the wages and employment of migrant workers, being more at risk of loss of employment and wages during an economic crisis in a host country. According to ILO, the migrant workers account to about 258 million in the world. Remittances to low and middle income countries are projected to fall by 19.7% to be precise. In 2020, the remittances are expected to be between $445 billion and $470 billion, representing a loss of a crucial financing lifeline for many vulnerable households, as reported by the World Bank. These remittances help countries elevate poverty, improve nutrition and reduce child labour. So it is going to be dreadful. It is going to trigger a major setback and devastation in the lives of all, especially the poor, in the coming days, months and years. Remittance flows are expected to fall across all World Bank Group regions, most notably in Europe and Central Asia, to the extent of 27.5%, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa, 23.1%, South Asia, 22.1%, the Middle East and North Africa, 19.6%, Latin America and the Caribbean, 19.3%, and East Asia and the Pacific, 13%. As indicated, remittances to South Asia are projected to decline by 22% to $109 billion in 2020, following the growth of 6.1% in 2019. In 2019, the remittance had reached all-time high of $554 billion. The slowing down in remittances to the South Asian region in 2020 is driven by the global economic slowdown due to coronavirus outbreak, as I mentioned, as well as oil price decline. The economic slowdown is likely to directly affect remittances outflow from the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU countries to South Asia. Falling oil prices will affect remittance outflows from GCC countries and Malaysia as well. The World Bank expects that the foreign remittances are expected to grow next year and recover by 5.6%, but that will be too low to replenish and repair the worst of damage in the history of the human race by a natural or perhaps man-made calamity. Thank you.