Remittances to Ho Chi Minh City in 2019 seen at $5.3 billion

In January - November, the city received $4.3 billion and the money sent to the country’s financial hub in the final month of 2019 could increase quickly to $1 billion, said Nguyen Hoang Minh, Deputy Director of State Bank of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City branch during Thursday conference.

The US-China trade war turned the global financial and currency market into disadvantaged situation, but the amount of remittances to Vietnam remained stabled, with an year-over-year increase. Ho Chi Minh City is always the country’s biggest receiver of remittances.

The currency flow not only contributed to the city's economic development, but was a stable supply of foreign currency.

In 2019, the central bank continuously increased the exchange rate, but exports, tourism, foreign investment grew well, contributing to the stabilization of the economy, partly thanks to stable source of remittances.

Last year, the city received $5 billion remittance and 70% of the amount was invested in production and business activities.

According to data from World Bank, Vietnam is ranked 9th largest remittance receiver in the world. It is estimated that 2019 remittance to reach $16.7 billion, equivalent to 6.4% of GDP, an increase of $700 million compared to 2018.

US is the largest remittance source with 55%, followed by Australia, Canada, France, Germany and South Korea. The main target groups that send overseas remittances to Vietnam are overseas Vietnamese and guest workers. 

Source: VGP