Remittances to City banks up to $2.2 billion

Remittances to City banks up to $2.2 billion

Remittance to the country through HCM City-based banks in the first seven months of the year rose to US$2.2 billion, or 19 per cent over the same period last year, according to statistics from the State Bank of Viet Nam's HCM City branch.

Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the branch, said that the amount of remittances converted into domestic currency have increased significantly from the past thanks to stable exchange rates. Most of the remittances were kept in foreign currency with only 11-12 per cent being converted into the dong, he said.

Besides, Minh said, remittances mostly haven't flowed into the real estate industry over the past two years. In the first six months of the year, remittance to the real estate industry was only 22 per cent against more than 50 per cent in 2011. Up to 49 per cent of the remittance in the period was for production.

Experts said that the remittance invested in production has been the most attractive to overseas Vietnamese, as the savings channel was less profitable due to low deposit rates, the gold investment channel risky and the security channel less popular.

Minh forecast that remittances into the country would jump to $4.5-4.7 billion for the whole of 2013, up 10-15 per cent against last year.

Minh said that remittances to the country often rise sharply in the fourth quarter, accounting for roughly 30-35 per cent of the total figure, as overseas Vietnamese seek to transfer money to their relatives for spending and shopping during year-end holidays.

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