Remittances sent to the Dominican Republic from abroad grew 29.3% in July compared to the previous year. Dominicans are sending home cash to help their relatives in these coronavirus times. The hard currency cash is most welcome at a time when tourism receipts have practically vanished.
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported on Sunday, 9 August 2020 that for the third consecutive month remittances increased, reaching the amount of US$827.7 million in July, 29.3% higher than the same month in 2019.
This value includes pocket money remittances of US$47.4 million, which are the remittances brought by Dominican travelers from abroad. The cash had not been accounted for until airports reopened on 1 July 2020, after a shutdown since mid-March.
The Central Bank says that remittances for the first half of the year are US$4,302.6 million, that is 5% more than the US$4,097.70 reported for the first six months in 2019.
The BCRD explained in a press release that the increase in remittance income is mainly due to the improvement in US employment figures in July 2020. As reported, in the US, 1.8 million jobs were created, pushing the unemployment rate down to a level of 10.2%, after having been at 11.1% in June.
The Central Bank reports that US data indicates that Hispanic unemployment decreased from 14.5% in June to 12.9% in July 2020. On the other hand, in the US, the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which shows the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors, increased 3.0% in July from the previous month, reaching its highest reading (54.2 points) in the last year.
The Central Bank also reports that as of the end of June, more than 600 companies were operating in free trade zones, about 86% of the country’s total number.
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Central Bank
9 July 2020