HCM City received a record US$7.1 billion worth of remittances last year, a 16 per cent increase from 2020 and accounting for more than half of the country’s total remittances, according to the State Bank of Viet Nam.

Nguyen Duc Lenh, deputy director of the central bank’s HCM City office, said most of the remittances were sent by overseas Vietnamese to help their families overcome the pandemic or invest in business without elaborating on the source of this information.

The remittances as usual mainly came from the US, Australia, Canada, and the EU.

“The strong remittance inflows amid the pandemic have helped stimulate [the economy],” Lenh said.

Banks should launch promotional programmes to attract more remittances, he said.

Despite the impact of the pandemic, the country received $12.5 billion worth of remittances last year, a 10 per cent increase from 2020, he said.

Total outstanding loans at credit institutions in HCM City was up 11.4 per cent for the year, according to the Department of Statistics.

The department said demand for funds increased despite the pandemic, which is a good sign. — VNS