Remittances to Caribbean, Latin America up in 2016

The Caribbean and Latin America were notable exceptions to a broader global trend of reduced remittances last year with the World Bank reporting a 6.9 per cent in remittances to the region in 2016.

Over last weekend the bank reported that remittance flows to Latin America last year were estimated at US$73 billion. The bank said that remittance senders had taken advantage of a “strong US labour market and beneficial exchange rates” and named Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala as countries in the hemisphere benefiting from significant remittance growth.

This year the bank is projecting remittance growth to the region to increase by a further 3.3 per cent, to US$75 billion.

Overall, according to the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief, last year, financial remittances to poor countries tumbled for a second consecutive year in 2016, for the first time in almost three decades. It estimates that in 2016 overall, remittances to developing countries totalled US$429 billion, a decline of 2.4 per cent from remittances in 2015 when remittances totalled $US440 billion. Overall, India remained the single largest recipient of remittances though last year, remittances flows to that country dipped to US$62.7 billion, a decrease of 8.9 per cent compared to the $68.9 billion in 2015.

The critical role that remittances play in sustaining millions of families and individuals in developing countries is widely recognized in the global economic and business communities and the weakening of remittance flows has been known to impact access to health care, education and nutrition among poor families. In many instances receiving families have been known to depend on remittances to routinely meet the costs of house rentals, electricity and even entertainment.