Remittances to Mexico rise 10.5% despite the COVID-19 pandemic

Money sent home by Mexican migrants has risen by 10.5% in the first six months of 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic, Mexico’s central bank, Banxico, reported Monday.

Migrants sent home about USD $19 billion in money known as remittances between January and June, compared to $17.25 in the same period last year.

Migrants broke a record in March when they sent home $4 billion in one month. In June, they were unable to keep up that torrid pace but still sent $3.35 billion.

That was much better than other countries that have seen drops in remittances because of job losses or reductions in hours due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Most Mexican migrants live and work in the United States, where unemployment has surged because of lockdowns. Given the big drop in the value of the peso so far this year, remittances sent in dollars will go much further.

The amount in Mexican pesos is equivalent to $78,741,000, which represents a 28.5% yearly raise.

Banxico reported that most Mexican migrants sent remittances via electronic transfers through 56.7 million transactions worth USD $336 on average.

Meanwhile, from January through June 2020, remittances in cash and in kind were worth USD $383 on average.

According to Banorte analysts, support from the U.S. government has allowed remittances to keep arriving in Mexico.

The U.S. support has been granted on the grounds of employment for Mexicans living in the neighboring country has not yet recovered from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic .

The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) stressed the resistance shown by that kind of abroad resources not to be reduced.

It even added that some months have registered significant rises in spite of unemployment and a fall in income earned by migrants in the countries where they live and work, especially the U.S.

The CEMLA said remittances could be linked to previous savings plus a rise in the percentage migrants send to their families.

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For its part, Banxico added that remittances registered in June 2020 surpassed President Andrès Manuel López Obrador’s estimates who expected approximately MXN $3.4 billion.

The families who benefitted the most with the remittances were in Jalisco, Michoacán, and Guanajuato, states that gathered the highest amount of remittances.

Meanwhile, the employment of Mexicans in the U.S. grew for the second month in a row, as stressed by the CEMLA in a report by Jesùs Cervantes and Cindy Sànchez.

The number of employed Mexican migrants was of 5.8 million, that is, it rose by 98,185 which, in addition to the rise registered in May, meant progress of 182,397 works and 3.3% compared to the level registered on April 2020, according to the CEMLA.

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