Remittance up 23.9% in Shrawan-Bhadra but fewer new labour permits. Why?

Nepal Rastra Bank's latest report (first two months of FY 2083/84):

- Remittance in Shrawan + Bhadra: Rs 436.04 billion, up 23.9% (last year same period grew 33.1%) - Bhadra alone: Rs 221 billion, vs Rs 174.67 billion last Bhadra - Final labour approvals for first-time workers: 78,320, down from 90,198 - Re-approvals (people going back on renewal): 51,136, up from 45,884

So money coming in is going up but fewer people are going abroad for the first time. Is it because of the Malaysia rule change, or are more people choosing Korea/Japan with higher salary? Anyone working in manpower see this on the ground?

Sources: https://risingnepaldaily.com/news/87842 and https://ekantipur.com/business/2026/10/15/en/remittances-increased-by-24-percent-reaching-436-billion-rupees-in-shrawan-and-bhadra-25-36.html

One more reason the remittance number looks big: a lot of IT freelancers and software companies get paid from abroad as "remittance" because there is no official way to record it as IT service export. The Kathmandu Post wrote about this in February (industry estimates IT exports near USD 1 billion). So part of this growth may be IT income, not only workers abroad.