Remittances up, but barely

Bank of Jamaica is reporting improved remittance flows for July 2013 and for the year to date. According to the central bank, net remittances were US$149.7 million, an increase of US$3.4 million or 2.3 per cent relative to the corresponding period of 2012. The growth in the net inflows reflected both an increase in gross remittance inflows and a contraction in outflows.

Gross remittance inflows for the month were US$170.5 million, an increase of US$1.6 million relative to July last year.

The rise in total remittance inflows reflected an increase of US$3.3 million in inflows through Remittance Companies and a decrease of US$1.7 million in inflows via Other Remittances. This is consistent with IC Insider’s findings for when there is strong instability in the foreign exchange market like what occurred after May of this year.

Total remittance outflows for the review month decreased by US$1.7 million to US$20.8 million.

Net remittances for January to July 2013 were US$1.049 billion, an increase of US$11.7 million over 2012. The outturn reflects a reduction in outflows which were partly offset by inflows.

For the review period, total remittance inflows were US$1,190.8 million, a decrease of US$4.9 million but outflows declined by an even larger amount of US$16.6 million thus contributing to an increase in the net inflows.

The decrease in total remittance inflows reflected a US$15.6 million or 1.5 per cent contraction in inflows through Remittances Companies, which was partly offset by a US$10.7 million or 6.2 per cent increase in flows through the Other Remittances sub-category.