Thread: Workers in Lee County, SW Fla. send less money home

Workers in Lee County, SW Fla. send less money home

How much remittances dropped in Florida not known

By Christina Cepero • ccepero@news-press.com • July 14, 2009

http://news-press.com/article/20090714/ ... 7/1003/ACC

For the first time in almost a decade, the amount of money sent to Latin America from immigrants in other countries has dropped, reports the Inter-American Development Bank, which has tracked remittances since 2000.

In the last quarter of 2008, the amount of money sent abroad dropped 2 percent. Through the first two quarters of this year, it appears to be an 8 to 10 percent decline.

Exact numbers for Florida and Southwest Florida are not known, but about two years ago Maya Express on Palm Beach Boulevard in east Fort Myers did an average of 3,000 money wire transfers a month. Now, it doesn’t even reach 700 a month. The drop hasn’t been as steep at Luis Aldana’s Cape Coral branch.

“People have left voluntarily. Others have been forced to leave the country. There are a lot who don’t have jobs,â€

Last year, Latin American and Caribbean expatriates sent $69.2 billion to their homelands, about $52 billion of which came from the United States.

That may have a little effect on our budget crisis if that money stayed here in the country.