Santo Domingo – The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported that in the year 2022 the remittances received reached a figure of US$9,856.5 million, a value consistent with the forecasts of the institution.
The institution indicates that, particularly in the month of December 2022, remittances totaled US$944.2 million, registering an increase of 0.4% compared to the same month of 2021, and 43.8% compared to 2019, the year prior to the pandemic.
This result is the third interannual increase registered since last October and reaffirms the establishment of the new level of monthly remittance flows above US$800.0 million.
In this sense, when comparing this amount of December 2022 with the average value in the same month for the pre-pandemic period of 2015-2019, which was US$563.1 million, a significant increase is observed. These resources provided by the diaspora undoubtedly have a multiplying effect on the consumption, investment and financing of the most vulnerable sectors.
The BCRD explains that the economic performance of the United States was one of the main factors that influenced the behavior of remittances, since 84.4% of the flows came from that country on average.
Specifically, in the month of December, US$671.2 million was received from that country, representing 83.3% of the December flows received through formal channels.
During that month, unemployment in that nation stood at 3.5%, its lowest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, having ended 2021 at around 3.9%. Unemployment of the Hispanic population in the US, in particular, went from 4.9% in December 2021 to 4.1% in December 2022.
The Central Bank highlights the receipt of remittances through formal channels from other countries in December, such as Spain, for a value of US$53.1 million, 6.6% of the total, this being the second country in terms of total residents of the Dominican diaspora abroad is concerned; as well as Haiti and Italy, with 1.3% and 0.9% of the flows received, respectively. The rest of the receipt of remittances is divided between countries such as Switzerland, Canada and Panama, among others.
Regarding the distribution of remittances received by provinces during December, the BCRD indicates that the National District obtained the highest proportion, 34.7%, followed by the provinces of Santiago and Santo Domingo, with 14.0% and 9.2%, respectively. This indicates that more than half (57.8%) of the remittances are received in the metropolitan areas of the country.
Evaluating the December flows according to the gender of the recipient, men predominate, with 51.9%, while women captured the remaining 48.1% of remittances received through formal channels.
The institution highlights that this greater flow of foreign currency also allowed the accumulation of international reserves, which ended 2022 at over US$14.4 billion, representing 12.8% of GDP and some 5.6 months of imports, metrics that exceed the levels recommended by the IMF. .
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic reaffirms its commitment to vigilance over the current economic environment to continue taking the necessary measures to counteract the impact on the Dominican economy of the challenging prevailing international scenario, in order to guarantee price and exchange market stability .
