Remittances, the donations that expats send to their families and friends in the Dominican Republic, are up this year. This is the third year in a row that an increase has been registered.
According to preliminary statistics from the Central Bank, during the first semester of 2019 remittances had grown 6.1% over those sent in 2018. From January to June 2019, remittances are US$3.4 billion. The forecast is for these to end the year at around US$ 6.5 billion.
78% of the payments come from the United States. Second is Spain, with 9.9%. This is down from 10.6% in 2018. Next is Haiti (1.5%), Italy (1.1%). Other sources for remittances include Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Panama, Germany, France and Canada.
Geographically, 31.1% of the remittances was received by someone in Greater Santo Domingo and 15.1% by a person in Santiago.
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Diario Libre
20 August 2019