Jamaica garnered US$752 million in remittance inflows in the four months to April this year or just 1.7 percent over the same period in 2016. For the similar period in 2016 inward remittances grew 3.5 percent over 2015.
The increase rate pales in comparison to Guatemala which grew of 13.6 percent, El Salvador 10.6 percent and Mexico 6.8 per cent, data from Bank of Jamaica stated.
Outgoing remittances fell 2.7 percent to US$78 million for the 4 months versus the four months period in 2016 and resulted in net inflows of US$674 million for an increase of 2.2 percent or US$14.5 million relative to the previous corresponding period.
The USA, continues to be the main source for remittances with 66 percent, followed by United Kingdom at 11.9 percent, Canada 9.4 percent and the Cayman Islands 6.1 percent. The flows from the Cayman Islands continues to raise concerns as the amounts are out of proportion to the population size of that country.
As large as remittance flows are, data contained in the remittance report for April out of Jamaica’s central bank show a decline in relation to Tourist Expenditure, falling from 95.6 percent in 2014 to 90.3 percent in 2016. The comparison with exports, shows a far differing pattern, with it almost being twice the level of 2016 exports, at 192 percent compared to 149 percent in 2014. As a percentage of imports, remittances have moved to 48 percent versus 37 percent in 2014.