SANTO DOMINGO.-The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported this Wednesday that remittances received between the first two months of this year reached a figure of US$1,566.3 million, exhibiting a 3.9% growth compared to the same period of 2022.
The month of February recorded a remittance value of approximately US$764.3 million, an increase of 2.1%, compared to February 2022.
He explained that the economic performance of the United States was one of the main factors that influenced the behavior of remittances, since 84.9% of the formal flows in February came from that country, which translates to US$558.5 million.
It is noteworthy that the Dominican economy grew by 2.1% in 2022, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and unemployment in February 2023 stood at 3.6%, the lowest level in over 50 years. Additionally, the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) registered a value of 55.1 in February, indicating expansion in the services sector, where the majority of the Dominican diaspora is employed.
The financial institution highlighted the receipt of remittances through formal channels from other countries in February, such as Spain, which received US$37.4 million, representing 5.7% of the total. Spain is the second largest recipient of remittances from the Dominican diaspora abroad. Haiti and Italy followed, receiving 1.1% and 0.8% of the total flows, respectively. The remaining remittances were distributed among countries such as Switzerland, Canada, and Panama, among others.
Regarding the distribution of remittances received by province during February, the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) indicates that the National District received the largest share, 35.2%, followed by the provinces of Santiago and Santo Domingo, with 14.3% and 8.6%, respectively. This indicates that more than half (58.1%) of remittances are received in the country's metropolitan areas.
The institution highlights that the greater flows of external income also allowed the accumulation of international reserves at the end of February of around US$15.6 billion, representing 12.9% of GDP and about 5.9 months of imports, metrics that exceed the levels recommended by the IMF.
