“World Economic Crisis Affecting Remittances”

Economist Henri Hebrard confirmed that between 2008 and 2009, Latin American countries will receiving as much as $5 billion dollars less in remittances sent annually by families living outside their countries due to the ongoing international economic crisis.

He explained the seven plagues of the global recession beginning with the abrupt decline in GDP growth in the countries where Latin Americans live abroad…

Hebrard said that in 2008, Latin America received $69 billion dollars. That amount is expected to fall to $65 billion dollars in 2009 representing an absolute drop of $5 billion dollars. He added that nearly a million people will stop all together sending money home to their families in Latin America.

The economist was speaking at the fourth meeting on remittances and development organized by the Tú, Mujer Association in coordination with the Community of Madrid and the International Institution CIDEAL. His speech was about Dominican remittances in the face of the “seven plagues of the global recession.”

He explained the seven plagues of the global recession beginning with the abrupt decline in GDP growth in the countries where Latin Americans live abroad, the crash of global commerce, the rise in unemployment, the hardening of attitudes toward immigrants, the drop real wages, price increases on basic products and the volatility of the financial markets.

Mr. Hebrard proposed an increase in the financial options of emigrants and their families as a way of confronting the drop in remittances. One of his suggestions included developing more financial services for those who send and receive money from abroad. He said emigrants’ investments should be encouraged and that this can be done by creating awareness of the relevance and socio-economic impact of the remittances.

Director of Tú, Mujer, Cristina Sánchez, said “at this moment of the international crisis, remittances have been affected and the policy of ‘assisted return’ is a practice that is gaining strength. As such, we are calling for a debate with the idea of contributing to the drawing up of policies and programs that will result in the transformation of the elements that generate immigration into local development.”

The meeting began last Thursday and the discussion continued throughout Friday June 5th. This activity was held with the collaboration of 17 public organizations, institutions, the United Nations as well as research centers from national universities.