UAE- Kerala NRI bank deposits cross Rs1 trillion mark
Date
6/10/2015 4:33:14 AM
(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The deposits at the end of the corresponding period in 2013-14 totalled Rs938 billion.
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Trivandrum — The bank deposits by non-resident Keralites (NRKs) in Kerala have crossed the Rs1-trillion mark at the end of 2014-15 fiscal according to State-Level Banker Committee.
The total NRE (non-resident Emigrant) deposits from nearly 2.5 million Keralites living outside the country in scheduled commercial banks were Rs1.1 trillion as on April 30 2015. This marks a 17 per cent growth compared to last year.
The deposits at the end of the corresponding period in 2013-14 totalled Rs938 billion.
Bankers attribute the new record partly to the fall in the value of rupee. The rupee fell about 3 per cent in 2014-15 against dollar. About 90 per cent of the Keralites living abroad are in the Gulf countries. The UAE which has emerged as the most favourite destination of the new generation Keralites accounts for nearly 40 per cent of overseas Keralites. This is followed by Saudi Arabia with 25 per cent.
There were media reports that NRIs had borrowed money from credit cards and banks to benefit from the slide in the rupee. The hike in the interest rates on NRE deposits by banks in the state also favoured greater flow of remittance to the state which has highest amount of foreign remittance in the country.
The total flow of remittances from the Indian diaspora is Rs7000 billion according to the RBI data.
As per this Kerala accounts for roughly a sixth of total the money deposited in NRE accounts in the country.
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