Mexico Sees Billions More Dollars from Migrants Than from Oil Exports Ioan Grillo - GlobalPost
go to original July 8, 2015

Mexicans working in the United States these days are sending lots of money back to Mexico. The dollars provide a lifeline for millions of poor families, often enabling them to buy basic food, medicine or school books.

Just in May, Mexican migrants abroad sent home almost $2.2 billion, a 2.4 percent rise over the same month last year.

In the first three months of 2015, migrants sent home $5.7 billion. That’s 5 percent more than during the same period last year, and up 17 percent compared to the first quarter of 2013.

They send the money via transfer services like Western Union. The Bank of Mexico keeps a tally of this vital cash inflow, known as remittances, and it's noticed a steady uptick.

At this point, remittances to Mexico have almost rebounded to their pre-Great Recession level.

With low oil prices, remittances now give Mexico even more foreign currency than it makes selling oil abroad. From January through May, state fuel monopoly Pemex exported $8.6 billion worth of petroleum. Compare that to the almost $10 billion Mexicans got from their relatives and friends working abroad.

Read the rest at GlobalPost

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