The central bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported today that between January and June 2022 the remittances received reached a figure of 4,861.1 million dollars.
Likewise, he highlighted that this amount exceeds by 1,403.7 million dollars the remittances received in the first six months of 2019, the period before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the aid schemes that were implemented after March 2020 and ended in September 2021 did not yet exist in the United States , which is why, when comparing the flows received as of June 2022 with those of the same month of 2021, in which the Dominican diaspora in the United States still received these incentives, a reduction of just 66 million dollars is observed.
The BCRD indicated that an important aspect to highlight is that the 803.8 million dollars received during June reaffirm the establishment of a new level of cash flows. remittances monthly.
In that sense, when comparing this amount for June 2022 with the average value in the same month for the period prior to the 2015-2019 pandemic, which was 499.2 million dollars, a significant increase is observed.
The central bank explained that the conditions of the labor market in the United States is one of the main factors that continues to affect the behavior of remittances, since 84.6% of the June flows came from that country. During said month, the North American economy created 372,000 jobs, maintaining the unemployment rate at 3.6% in June 2022. Particularly, the unemployment of Hispanics in that country did not register a variation in June, remaining at 4.3%.
The BCRD also highlighted the reception of remittances from other countries, such as Spain, in the order of 6.4%, second country in terms of total residents of the Dominican diaspora abroad, as well as Haiti and Italy with 1.3% and 0.8% of the flows received, respectively. The rest of the reception remittances it is divided between countries such as Switzerland, Canada and Panama, among others.
Receiving provinces
Regarding the distribution of the remittances received by provinces, the BCRD indicated that the National District obtained the highest proportion, 33.9%, followed by the provinces of Santiago and Santo Domingo, with 14.4% and 9.0%, respectively. This indicates that more than half (57.3%) of the remittances received in the metropolitan areas of the country.
Analyzing the flows of June 2022 according to the gender of the recipient, men predominate, with 53.3%. Women captured the remaining 46.7% of the remittances received through formal channels.
The BCRD reaffirmed that the evolution of the external sector for this year will be characterized by the dynamism of the remittances, exports, foreign direct investment and the recovery of tourism, which in recent months has registered record figures in tourist arrivals. “These events will contribute to a greater flow of foreign currency to the country and will help maintain the relative stability of the exchange rate that is currently observed, in such a way that the exchange rate showed an appreciation of 4.8% at the end of June compared to December 2021,” he said.
The institution highlighted that this greater flow of foreign currency has also allowed the accumulation of international reserves, which by the end of June 2022 were placed around 14.45 billion dollars, representing 13.3% of GDP and equivalent to about 6.0 months of imports.
These metrics exceed the levels recommended by the IMF, helping the Dominican Republic to maintain a favorable external position, projecting a flow of remittances for the end of 2022 around 10,000 million dollars and a current account deficit between 3.0% and 3.5% of GDP.
