Page 19 - CITN 2017 Journal

dependent variable, migrant remittance (MREM) as independent variable with foreign
direct investment (FDI), foreign exchange rate (FX) and export of goods and services
(EGS) as control variables. Obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria, Bureau of
Statistics, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the secondary data
was considered reliable and credible as these as reputable bodies that generate data for
policy making.

From the results, the study established that:
(i) Migrant remittance positively impacted the economic development of the nation
within the period under review. It shows that any positive increase in migrant
remittances will lead to an increase in economic development and any decrease in
migrant remittance will negatively affect the pace of development.
(ii) Proportion of economic development that can be ascribed to migrant remittances.
For instance, it showed that a hundred Naira increase in migrant remittances, will
lead to at least five percent increase in economic development. This result is in
tandem with a series of earlier studies in other jurisdictions which found positive
linkages between migration, remittances and education and health outcomes
defined here as the social infrastructure.
(iii) Migrant remittance has a positive relationship with other control variables. This is
not a surprise given the fact that migrant remittances are usually in hard currencies
which enhance the balance of payment position of the country, its credit
worthiness and ability to attract more foreign direct investments needed to finance
developmental projects.
(iv) Finally, the point must be made that understanding the motivations for remitting is
necessary for analysing the wider economic consequences of remittances. These
observations notwithstanding, well-harnessed, migrant remittance has great
potential of being a major source of development financing in Nigeria.

The impact of rising migrant remittances on various macroeconomic variables has been
the subject of a series of research work because of its pervasive nature. There is no doubt
that migrant remittances, which is a derived or by-product of migration, can play a crucial
positive role in development. Accordingly, we recommend the following;

(i) Financial structures must be put in place to harness these huge remittances that
flow into the country through informal means. Except this is done, government
monetary policies will not have the optimum desired effects as a lot of funds will
continue to remain outside the financial system.
(ii) Efforts must be made to reduce the financial costs of remittances. The current
charges by money transfer organizations like Western Union and Money Gram
can be made cheaper. Indeed, banks, specialized money transfer agencies and
informal middlemen often make high profits on remittances.
(iii) Remittances can be encouraged through exempting remittances from taxation, as
had been the case in the Netherlands until recently. In the recent past, many
governments and banks in sending countries have successfully attempted to
attract remittances through special fiscal policies, the establishment of foreign
bank branches and giving migrants the opportunity to open foreign currency
accounts.
(iv) The governments of both receiving and sending countries can provide material
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