The central bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported this Wednesday that in the first nine months of the year the remittances received reached a figure of 7,309.4 million dollars, exceeding by 2,016.5 million dollars those received in the first nine months of 2019, the period prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He recalled that before in the United States there were still no aid schemes that were implemented after March 2020 and that ended in September 2021, which is why when comparing the flows received as of September 2022 with those of the same period of 2021 a reduction of about 551.9 million dollars is observed.
Through a statement, the BCRD added that in September 2022, particularly, the remittances they added 790.6 million dollars. These figures reaffirm the establishment of the new level of cash flows remittances monthly around 800 million dollars.
In that sense, the central bank reported that, when comparing this amount for September 2022 with the average value in the same month for the period prior to the 2015-2019 pandemic, which was 453.8 million dollars, a significant increase is observed.
The issuing entity explains that the economic performance of the United States (USA) is one of the main factors that continues to influence the behavior of the remittancessince 84.9% of the flows in September came from that country.
The BCRD also highlighted the reception of remittances from other countries, such as Spain, in the order of 6.2%, second nation in terms of total residents of the Dominican diaspora abroad, as well as Haiti and Italy, both with 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 remittances
Regarding the distribution of the remittances received by provinces, the BCRD indicated that the National District obtained the highest proportion, 34.1%, followed by the provinces of Santiago and Santo Domingo, with 14.5% and 8.9%, respectively.
This indicates that more than half (57.5%) of the remittances received in the metropolitan areas of the country.
Men continue to receive more remittances
Analyzing the flows of September 2022, according to the gender of the recipient, men predominate, with 52.9%, while women captured the remaining 47.1% of the remittances received through formal channels.
After analyzing the recent evolution of the external sector, the BCRD’s perspectives for the rest of the year contemplate the continuation of important foreign currency flows due to remittances, tourism, exports and foreign direct investment. This will contribute to maintaining the relative stability of the exchange rate that is currently observed, in such a way that the exchange rate showed an accumulated appreciation of 7.0% at the end of September 2022.
The institution highlights that this greater flow of foreign currency has also allowed the accumulation of international reserves, which by the end of September 2022 stood at over 13.8 billion dollars, representing around 12.3% of GDP and equivalent to around 5.7 months of imports, metrics that exceed the levels recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“All these elements, together with the robust macroeconomic fundamentals of the country, indicate that the external sector of the Dominican Republic has particularly adequate conditions to accommodate the shocks coming from a complex and uncertain international environment, projecting that this sector would close in 2022 with remittances close to 10,000 million dollars, exports with record figures around 14,000 million dollars, income from tourism above 8,700 million dollars, and foreign direct investment (FDI) of more than 3,500 million dollars”, He said central bank.
