Bloomberg — Mexico received a record $51.6 billion in remittances in 2021, which helped to soften the impact of a stagnated economy on consumers.
The amount of money sent by Mexicans working abroad increased by 27% compared with 2020, according to figures published by the Bank of Mexico on Tuesday. The increase was due to a variety of factors, including the payment of stimulus checks to residents in the U.S., Mexican workers’ desire to help out their families in difficulty back home, and money sent for migrants that remained in Mexico.
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“It’s not an achievement for the Mexican economy because this historic amount of remittances is due to the high economic growth in the U.S., and here in Mexico the recovery is very slow,” according to Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco BASE. “Remittances are received and a large part of that generates consumption.”
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Remittances totaled $4.76 billion in December, slightly below projections by economists consulted by Bloomberg.
In the U.S., the recovery of the labor market for Mexican workers was better than for the population in general, with more than seven million Mexicans employed there in December, according to analysis by the Centro de Estudios Monetarios Latinoamericanos, which is based in Mexico City.
Other Latin American countries, such as Colombia and Guatemala, also saw an increase in remittances coming in from abroad, it said.
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“The rate of growth of remittances, which was higher than expected, has been seen in almost all parts of the world,” Dilip Ratha, director of The Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development, a World Bank project, said, adding that he expects the value of remittances sent to continue to increase.
“Over the next five or 10 years there won’t be a scenario of the number of international migrants decreasing. This will continue, given the discrepancy of incomes and demographic changes.”
Also Read:
- A Record Number of Migrants Are Trying to Seek Asylum in Mexico
- Inflation Is Raging Everywhere, But It’s Worst in Latin America
- Mexico’s 2022 M&A Outlook Cloudier After Surge in Deals This Year
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