Remittances increase - BOJ

A recently released remittance report by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has shown a modest increase in remittance inflows to the island, in the first eight months of the current fiscal year.



The report on the April to November 2011 period showed that remittance inflows were US$1,342.7 million, representing an US$86.4 million increase over the 2010/2011 fiscal year.



The January 27 report also showed that for November 2011, net remittances were US$133.1 million, which represents an improvement of US$3.6 million or 2.8 per cent relative to the corresponding period of 2010.



The positive growth in total remittance inflows for the first eight months of the fiscal year, emanated from both ‘Remittance Companies’ and the ‘Other Remittances’ sub-categories.



The report said Remittance Companies recorded an increase of US$74.6 million, while Other Remittances had an increase of US$11.9 million.



The BOJ report noted that the improvement in remittance inflows occurred against the backdrop of the improving macro-economic conditions in source economies, with the United States being the major one.



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