Guatemala Remittances Increase 7.8%

Remittances to Guatemala increased 7.8% in April, to $371m from $344m the year before, when they grew by only 1.4% from 2009, according to a report by JPMorgan. April’s favorable performance, which extended the streak of monthly gains to14, took the tally for the first 4 months of 2011 to $1.34bn, up 8.8% from the corresponding period in 2010. Remittances totaled $4.13bn for the full year 2010, 5.5% higher than 2009. Remittances as a percentage of GDP actually fell to 10.0% in 2010 from 10.4% the year before. The central bank expects remittances to increase 5.3% to $4.35bn for the full year 2011 due to increasing US growth. Given projected growth in nominal GDP, remittances as a percentage of GDP are likely to fall to 9.8%, marking the first time since 2003 that it has dropped below below 10%.