Overseas remittances to HCM City in the first six months fell by a huge 13 per cent to US$3.16 billion.

Nguyen Duc Lenh, deputy director of the State Bank of Viet Nam’s HCM City Branch, blamed it on the Ukraine conflict, inflation and high oil and food prices.

The World Bank and the Global Organisation on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) said Viet Nam was the world’s eighth largest recipient of remittances last year.

They were worth around $18.1 billion, marginally up from the $17.2 billion in 2020.

This year they are expected to increase by 2.6 per cent as COVID restrictions are removed in many countries.

But they can be affected by a recurrence of the pandemic, other diseases such as monkeypox, inflation, and recession.

Remittances have been playing an important part in reviving Viet Nam’s economy after COVID. — VNS