Jamaica Remittance Growth Slows

Jamaican remittances will hit around $2bn in 2008, in line with the government’s recently revised 6%-7% projection for remittance growth this year, but half the average 12% pace seen over the past 5 years, says JPMorgan. The original forecast was for 10%-11% expansion, it adds. Most recent central bank data shows money flows hitting $1.5bn in the first 9 months of the year, 8.8% higher than in the same period of 2007, but slower than the 11.1% pace of the first 9 months of 2007. In full-2007, remittances rose 11% to total $1.96bn, or 17% of GDP, coming in as the country’s top foreign exchange earner, JPMorgan adds.