Jordanian remittances from Qatar witnessed 100% increase in first half of 2021 — money exchangers

AMMAN — The remittances of Jordanians working in Qatar in the first half of 2021 exceeded $220 million, Qatari bankers and money exchangers said on Monday.

Salem Banali, a Qatari money exchanger, told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the remittances of Jordanians working in Qatar in the first six months of 2021 witnessed a 100 per cent increase when compared to the same period of 2020, which saw the transfer of $110 million to the Kingdom. 

The Jordanian community in Qatar exceeds 65,000 people, most of them working in the health and education sectors, government departments and the private sector, mainly financial, banking, real estate, construction, hospitality and tourism and ICT sectors, according to Petra. 

Ahmad Imadi, owner of a Qatari money exchange company, said that the Jordanian community in Qatar is among the most active in remittances, noting that the majority of Jordanians are keen on transferring money every month.

Jordanian expatriates’ remittances are among the most important sources of income in the Kingdom along with direct foreign investments, tourism revenues, deposits in US dollars and export revenues. 

Recent data by the Central Bank of Jordan revealed that Jordanian expatriates’ remittances amounted to JD599 million (some $844.5 million) during the first quarter of 2021. Remittances in 2020 went down by 9.1 per cent to $3.24 billion compared with 2019.