Remittances dip at half-year

Remittance inflows fell in the month of June and also over the first half of the year, even as other countries experienced a rise in flows, according to new data released by the central bank.

Remittances account for the second-highest inflows to Jamaica, after tourism.

In June, Jamaican consumers collected US$286.3 million in money transfers through networks such as MoneyGram, Western Union and a host of others, but the flows were 0.7 per cent less than a year earlier. Over six months, money transfers slipped by 0.3 per cent to US$1.65 billion.

Remittances are funds sent as gifts to persons in other countries. It mostly reflects money movements from developed nations with large diaspora populations or migrant communities that support households at home. The bulk of the transfers emanated from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Cayman Islands.

The Bank of Jamaica, BOJ, indicated that while Jamaica’s remittance inflows declined over the period, its peers in Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador reported higher inflows.

Those markets recorded improved transfers of 10.9 per cent, 9.8 per cent and 5.6 per cent, respectively, BOJ said.

Jamaica's half-year decline was marginal, comporting with optimism previously expressed by remittance operators that money transfers were likely to improve as the year progresses.

Jamaica recorded its historically best remittance inflows of US$3.5 billion in 2021, amid pandemic-related changes within the market that served to channel money through formal remittance channels counted by the Bank of Jamaica. At the time, overseas relatives sent funds to support displaced local family members amid a rout of jobs in and outside the tourism market.

The BOJ also indicated that the rise in 2020 remittances likely reflected a movement towards alternative money transfer channels by persons who otherwise would have delivered the funds to relatives personally during travel trips home, but whose movement were curtailed by the lockdown of air and sea ports.

Overall, at peak, the market added US$1 billion more in annual flows, relative to the US$2.4 billion of remittances counted in 2019.

Last year, the flows dipped just below their peak to round out at US$3.4 billion, but there is expectation in the market that no serious deterioration of money flows will occur this year.

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com