KL bank launches rupiah remittance

KL bank launches rupiah remittance

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's Pacific Bank, through a pact with Indonesia's Bank Bali, launched yesterday an Indonesian rupiah remittance service to cater to the rapidly rising number of Indonesians working in the country.

"The electronic transfer facility is intended to benefit Indonesian nationals working in Malaysia," said Pacific Bank executive chairman Lin See Yan.

It is similar to the Filipino Peso remittance service the bank launched a year ago to serve Filipinos working in Malaysia.

Lin said through arrangements with Bank Bali, one of the leading commercial banks in Indonesia with a national network of more than 120 branches, rupiah remittances would be made electronically.

Pacific Bank's nationwide branch network will be raised from 44 to 49 next month.

Foreign workers in Malaysia remit a conservative estimate of 2.4 billion ringgit (US$960 million) a year from their wages, according to recent figures released by Malaysian Human Resources Minister Lim Ah Lek.

Industry officials said the estimate was based on the official count of 1. 5 million foreign workers in the country, without counting the rising number of those working illegally.

An acute labor shortage fueled by eight straight years of robust economic growth averaging eight percent a year has sparked an influx of foreign workers into the country, labor officials said.