Wiring money to Old Country to get cheaper, leaders agree

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The leaders of rich nations think they have a way to help boost the economies of poor countries - and keep the money out of the hands of terrorists.

The idea is simple: Help immigrants send cash back home to places like Karachi and Manila by slashing fees on overseas remittances.

At the Group of Eight summit in Georgia this week, leaders reached agreement on the program, which aims to cut remittance rates of 10 percent to 15 percent in half.

"I think it has a huge impact for those countries that have a lot of overseas workers," said Undersecretary of State Alan Larson.

He pointed out that global remittance flows total nearly $100-billion a year - about twice as much as rich countries' foreign aid to developing countries.

The initiative dovetails with the Bush administration's crackdown on informal money-transfer operations known as hawalas. The government suspects the system is used by terrorists to launder money, including that siphoned from Islamic charities.

Since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the Treasury Department has frozen the assets of several Middle East-based charities.

European officials say governments can encourage financial institutions to bring down rates by eliminating the cumbersome paperwork now required, and also through old-fashioned arm-twisting.

The G-8 governments also hope to cooperate with developing nations to create more institutions, such as post offices, where family members can collect money.

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