Remittances up 20.7 per cent in 2021; dollar lost 8.5 per cent of its value – ESSJ
KINGSTON, Jamaica- Net remittance inflows into Jamaica in 2021 totalled US$3.393 billion, an increase of 20.7 per cent relative to 2020.
The increase resulted from a rise in inflows by US$591.4 million to US$3 630.7 million. The increase in inflows was primarily due to higher inflows from remittance companies, by US$522.8 million to US$3 011.9 million. Other remittances also recorded higher inflows by 16.7 per cent to US$485.3 million.
The figures are outlined in the 2021 edition of the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica (ESSJ) a publication of the Planning Institute of Jamaica.
The survey showed that remittance inflows from the United States of America, Jamaica’s largest source, totalled US$2 114.6 million, an increase of 25.4 per cent.
Inflows from the top five remittance sources increased, with the exception of The Bahamas. Increases were recorded for United Kingdom by 21.4 per cent to US$328.8 million, Cayman Islands by 6.7 per cent to US$155.1 million and Canada by 21.2 per cent to US$312.1 million.
Meanwhile, the nominal exchange rate of $155.09 to US$1.00 as at December 31, 2021 relative to $142.65 at the end of 2020, was a nominal depreciation of 8.7 per cent and a real depreciation of 8.5 per cent the ESSJ said.
It noted that in response to the depreciation of the exchange rate, the Bank of Jamaica performed several Foreign Exchange Intervention Tool (B-FXITT) sale operations and facilitated direct sales to key entities and FX swap transactions. In addition, the August 2021 general Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation from the International Monetary Fund, the equivalent of US$520.6 million, served to bolster the country’s stock of FX reserves.
