Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean are likely to rise this year after stabilizing during 2010, although a weaker dollar and higher inflation are reducing their purchasing power in many countries, according to the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).
Measured in U.S. dollars, money transfers made by Latin American and Caribbean migrants to their countries of origin reached $58.9 billion in 2010, virtually unchanged from $58.8 billion in 2009, when remittances saw a 15 percent drop due to the effects of the global economic crisis, the MIF said in a report released Monday.
Last year’s total was significantly below the record $69.2 billion reached in 2008. However, during 2010 remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean started to stabilize and even rise.
Mexico remained the region’s leading recipient of remittances at $21.3 billion, a very slight increase from 2009. Guatemala is now the second largest recipient, at $4.1 billion, after recording a 5 percent rise last year.
Going forward, the report added, remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean are likely to continue rising in volume in 2011.
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