Remittances to Ho Chi Minh City to reach USD5bn

The State Bank in Ho Chi Minh City branch forecasts that overseas remittances to the city will surpass USD5bn this year.

The State Bank in Ho Chi Minh City branch forecasts that overseas remittances to the city will surpass USD5bn this year.

  

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Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam in HCM City, said, "The city had received USD4.7bn via credit institutions in the past 10 months, 2% higher than the same period in 2019. We estimate that remittances to the city will reach total USD5.5bn this year, 0.82% higher than in 2019."

According to Minh, remittances dropped in the first half of 2020 because of Covid-19. Many people across the world lost their jobs or had to close businesses. Statistics from the State Bank of Vietnam show that in the first seven months, overseas remittances totalled USD3bn, a drop of 1.2% compared to the same period in 2019. However, after the outbreak was controlled in several countries, remittances quickly picked up. In October alone, the city received USD500m.

Remittances to HCM City increased 8-10% on an annual basis. The increase in overseas remittances will help boost the availability of foreign currency and exchange rate stability.

"After the Covid-19 outbreak was controlled in many countries and lockdowns were eased for economic recovery, remittances started returning to normal. Vietnam is among the few countries that have controlled Covid-19 so that will help attract investment into Vietnam," Minh said.

Since early 2020, the VND exchange rate against the USD has only increased 0.2%.