Remittances to HCM City were estimated to reach US$1.2 billion in the first quarter of this year. - Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Remittances to HCM City were estimated to reach US$1.2 billion in the first quarter of this year, according to Nguyen Hoang Minh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Viet Nam’s branch in the southern city.

This represented a rise of more than 7 per cent over the same period last year.

The inflow of remittances has been increasing in recent years, averaging growth of 10 per cent per year, driven by the stable macroeconomic situation, Minh said, adding that remittances were mainly flowing into production and business (about 60-65 per cent) and real estate (around 20 per cent).

In addition, remittance receivers tended to exchange foreign currencies into Vietnamese dong to enjoy higher deposit interest rates. Rate on deposits in US dollars have been kept at zero for more than two years.

Remittances to HCM City totalled $5 billion in 2018.

The country received a sum of nearly $16 billion in remittances last year, one hundred times higher than in 1993.

According to the World Bank, Viet Nam is one of the top ten remittance receivers.

Remittances to Viet Nam came from more than 4.5 million overseas Vietnamese together with a large number of workers working abroad. — VNS