Chief Economist Can Van Luc from the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) said that Vietnam’s overseas remittances in 2020 would be 10-15% or even 15-17% lower than that of last year if the Covid-19 pandemic continues.
Overseas remittances to Vietnam forecasted to drop by 17% this year
In 2019, Vietnam received total remittances of nearly USD17 billion, placing the nation among the world’s 10 biggest remittance beneficiaries, the World Bank reported.
Luc added that Vietnam’s key labour export markets such as the US, France, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have been hard hit by Covid-19. “However, Asian countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan are expected to control the disease better than many European countries and the US; so the overseas remittances from these markets would fall just slightly,” Luc said.
Vietnam has basically controlled the pandemic and highly appreciated by the international community for this. This year, the country’s GDP growth has been forecasted to reach 4.5-5%, which is a positive sign for Vietnam to continue attracting overseas remittances.
Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the State Bank of Vietnam’s branch in HCM City, said that in the first four months of this year, overseas remittances sent through the city’s credit organisations were estimated at USD1.8%, down 2% on-year. Meanwhile, the city accounted for around USD5.3 billion out of the country’s total remittances of USD17 billion last year.
Overseas remittances through the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank in April declined by 20% against March, according to a representative.
A recent report by the World Bank indicated that this year the global overseas remittances would decrease 20% on-year amid the global economic slowdown caused by the Covid-19.
Job losses and lost hours and wages are expected to leave migrants in wealthier nations unable to send as much money home to poorer countries already suffering from coronavirus shutdowns, the report said.
