WASHINGTON - Asia has been particularly hit by a global crash in remittances - a lifeline for many countries in the region - on the back of the pandemic-induced crash in economies around the globe.

"There are indications that the progress that has been made on (the goals of) reducing poverty, or malnutrition, or food insecurity, are unfortunately stagnating or will get worse before they start getting better," Dr Aziz Elbehri, Senior Economist and Senior Policy Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Asia Pacific, said on ST's Asian Insider video and podcast.

"We are facing a very tough decade ahead," Dr Elbehri told Asian Insider host Nirmal Ghosh, ST's US Bureau Chief.

As early as April, an assessment by the World Bank concluded that remittance flows this year will fall 22.1 per cent in South Asia, and 13 per cent in East Asia and the Pacific.

The crash will not only affect governments' ability to fund essential programmes but almost certainly reverse gains in poverty reduction, setting back some goals by decades.

Nepal, one of the most heavily dependent on remittances from migrant labour, is seeing a 28 per cent decline in remittances, Kunda Dixit, editor of Nepali Times - a weekly publication - told Asian Insider.

Up to 15 per cent of Nepal's 30 million people are working abroad at any given time. Of these, 2.5-3 million are in India. Of the other two million, 60 per cent work in just four Gulf countries: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Kuwait.

"We export the sweat of our workers to import the oil from the same countries," Mr Dixit told Asian Insider.