On February 27, 2014 at the Interamerican Dialogue in Washington D.C. remittance expert Manuel Orozco presented his yearly analysis of the volume of remittances entitled “Current Perspectives on Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2013” and a PDF version of his briefing can be viewed/downloaded at the end of this short note. The paper considers the possible impact of immigration reform in the US on remittances and on the lives of migrants.
In 2013, family remittances to the region experienced little growth for most of the major remittance recipient countries. This may be a byproduct of immigration controls and deportations, demography, regulatory constraints and a slow recovery from the recession. Remittances have not grown substantially from 2012 and the total volume to the region was 60 billion, slightly decreasing by 1%. Manuel divides the results for the year in three groups:
- Substantive: the higher growth countries that include Haiti, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica with growth rates of .5% to 13%
- Modest: the modest growth countries that include Colombia, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Panamá.with growth rates of .less than 1% to 2%
- Negative: the negative growth countries that include Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay,Paraguay and Brazil with growth rates of .-1% to -6%
It is important for anyone interested in remittances to the region to read the document below and review the variables that Manuel identifyes as influencing the decrease or increase in the volume to each country. Some of the factors impacting growth in remittances to Latin American and Caribbean countries are the continuation of deportations, the decreased migration, the demographic growth and economic growth, the economic downturn in Spain and Argentina (mostly influencing Paraguay) and undocumented migrants remitting less due to earning less. Some factors influencing growth positively were the temporary guest worker migration to the US, the education/training, the frequency of sending and a strong migratory wave from Central America, with the exception of El Salvador.
As a conclusion to this briefing Manuel discusses the potential impacts of regularization on remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean after research shows that 72% of undocumented migrants reported that they would send more money to their families if they would become legal citizens.
iew/Download theinfographic (image in left corner) from here: Infographic
View/Download the briefing here:[gview file=”https://imtconferences.com/docs/2014/Current_perspectives_on_remittances_to_Latin_America_and_the_Caribbean.pdf”]
