Remittances to Mexico Rise 5% in 1st Quarter

from the Latin American Herald Tribune

Emigrants’ remittances to Mexico increased 5.48 percent between January and March over the same period in 2010, Mexico’s central bank said Monday.

In the first three months of the year, remittances from outside the country rose to nearly $5.1 billion, a jump from the $4.83 billion in the first three months of 2010.

In the first quarter there were 15.7 million transfers, 1.9 percent more than in the same period the year before.

Mexico’s central bank said that remittances in March totaled $2.05 billion, significantly ahead of the $1.65 billion in February.

Each remittance averaged $343.36 in March, a month in which 5.96 million transfers were made, most of them online.

Millions of Mexican emigrants, above all the 11.5 million living in the United States, send their families a monthly sum that they often use to cover their basic living expenses.

Remittances are Mexico’s No. 2 source of revenue after oil exports.