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July 2008

Are remittances to Mexico really declining?

Submitted by Sanket Mohapatra on Thu, 07/31/2008 - 16:58

A slowdown in the growth of remittances to Mexico has been a cause for concern as these flows (mostly from the United States) provide a lifeline to a large number of Mexican families.

Migrant remittances to Mexico declined by 0.1 percent in June compared to the same period the previous year, according to the latest official data. This represents an improvement over the significantly larger 3.3 percent decline the previous month.  Also, this article from the WaPo states that overall in the first six months of 2008, remittances to Mexico have declined by 2.2 percent compared the first half of 2007.

In the current climate of negative news, it’s worth taking a step back to see if the pessimistic picture is justified.

Monthly data show that officially reported remittance flows to Mexico in the first six months of 2008 followed a very similar trend to that of the previous two years, and they have remained almost unchanged from 2007. Monthly remittances to Mexico show strong seasonality, reaching a peak during May on account of Mother’s Day. The official data shows at best a flattening since early 2007, especially coming after 20 percent average annual growth during the previous five years, and after taking into account seasonal fluctuations.
 
Moreover, Mexican migrants are still sending money home, if necessary by taking up whatever jobs they can find, postponing consumption, or drawing on savings. There are also anecdotal reports that stringent immigration enforcements have encouraged some remittances to shift to hand carry or informal channels.

¿Es la Directiva de Retorno Aprobada por la Unión Europea favorable para Latinoamérica?

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Mon, 07/28/2008 - 16:55

El día 18 deJunio de 2008 se aprobó la directiva de retorno en el Parlamento Europeo. Esta directiva constituye el primer paso hacia una política común de inmigración para inmigrantes ilegales procedentes de países no comunitarios. La directiva entraría en vigencia el año 2010.

La mayoría de los países latinoamericanos, los bloques comerciales regionales y organismos internacionales han expresado su rechazo y preocupación por la reciente medida aprobada por la Unión Europa (UE). La directiva atenta bloquear la oportunidad de muchos países latinoamericanos de seguirse globalizando, accediendo a mercados cada vez mas grandes no solo a través del movimiento de bienes, servicios, capital, si no a través del movimiento de personas.  
(Ver resumen de noticias en Ingles)

Entre los efectos posibles de esta directiva se encuentran:

Canadian migrants moving money (say that five times fast!)

Submitted by Dilip Ratha on Fri, 07/25/2008 - 16:27

According to this article in Globe and Mail, new data from the Canadian government shows that four in 10 Canadians are sending money to family and friends abroad.  Also interesting to note:

"In Canada, where one in five people are born outside the country, about $5-billion is sent in remittances a year, according to Western Union, one of the world's largest money transfer firms."

This data will definitely help fill in some blanks as we update and publish the next Migration and Remittances Factbook.

Remittances to developing countries reached $251 billion in 2007

Submitted by Dilip Ratha on Thu, 07/10/2008 - 19:09

The World Bank released a revised set of estimates for remittance flows for 2007 (excel data). These estimates show that remittance flows to developing countries were $251 billion in 2007, some 5 percent higher than earlier estimates and 11 percent higher than the previous year. The M&D Brief discusses concerns over a much-publicized decline in remittance received by Mexico in the first part of 2008, and argues that remittances may instead have grown although at a slower pace. Remittances to other Latin American countries (El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala) and Asian countries (Bangladesh, Philippines and Pakistan) continue to grow robustly, underscoring the global growth in remittances.

G-8 calls for a Global Remittances Working Group

Submitted by Dilip Ratha on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 11:31

Excerpt from the G-8 Hokkaido Toyko summit document, “Development and Africa”:

44. We acknowledge the importance of facilitating remittance flows given their development impacts. The G8 conference on remittances in Berlin in November 2007 reviewed the actions agreed at the Sea Island Summit in 2004. In this context, we will follow-up the seven recommendations adopted at the Berlin conference on improving data, development impact, remittance services, access to finance, innovative channels and on the creation of a Global Remittances Working Group. We appreciate the work done by international financial institutions in this regard and invite the World Bank to facilitate the work of the group and provide for coordination.

There is no institutional framework currently to address these flows in a coordinated manner. For official flows, there are hundreds of institutions; for foreign direct investment, there are tens of institutions; but for remittances, estimated to be $300 billion or three times the size of official aid flows to developing countries, there is none. The creation of this Working Group is an important step in taking the International remittances agenda forward.