May 23, 2005

Mexico's Central Bank Predicts Remittances Will Reach US$20 Billion for 2005The Associated Press
This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBIMITA39E.html

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Remittances sent home by Mexicans working abroad may reach as much as US$20 billion (euro15.85 billion) for 2005 as a whole, the highest level on record, the central bank said Monday.

The projection by Bank of Mexico Governor Guillermo Ortiz would mark an increase over estimated the approximately US$16.6 billion sent home in 2004 by migrants, mainly from the United States, and US$13.3 billion in 2003.

Officials have said that part of the increase is due to better reporting, as more migrants use banks for such transfers and fewer send money home in cash.

"At the rate we are going, it's likely that remittances will reach around 20 billion dollars," Ortiz said in a speech to an insurance industry convention.

But that's not all good news, he noted. "What it means is that we are not generating enough job opportunities in our country and people have to go elsewhere for them," Ortiz said.

Remittances are Mexico's second-largest source of foreign income after oil. Nearly 11 million people born in Mexico live abroad, and 98 percent of them reside in the United States.

AP-ES-05-23-05 1857EDT