Remittances up strongly in October

Jamaica continues to garner increasing inflows of remittances, with the latest data indicating another record year of well over $2 billion to be generated from this source, with just two more months’ figures left to close out the year.
The country should see the record inflows for 2014 amounted to US$2.157 billion being broken by a good margin based on the figures up to October. The latest information shows remittance inflows in October growing a strong 6.7 percent over to the corresponding month in 2014, to reach US$192 million, for an increase of US$12 million. Net flows were US$171 million, an increase of US$11 million or 7 percent, relative to the October 2014 as outflows grew at a slower pace than inflows, at 4.9 percent. Inflows for August and September grew by less than one percent per month over the similar months of 2014 and may have contributed to the increase in October.
For the year to October, total remittance inflows increased by US$63 million or 3.5 percent to US$1.84 billion while net inflows rose by US$59 million or 3.7 percent, to US$1.65 billion.