Posted on 07/12/2007 4:37:07 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
MONTERREY, Mexico, July 12 (Reuters) - Stricter U.S. border controls and a housing slump are cooling the once red-hot growth in remittances migrant workers send to Latin America, challenging economies to cut their dependence on the money flows.
Cash sent home by Mexicans living abroad fell 5.5 percent in May, the first fall since 1999, and countries across Latin America forecast that the growth of remittance flows will slow substantially this year.
"Remittances will definitely suffer a slowdown. We cannot depend only on remittances. We must increase our productive base, especially our exports," Honduras' central bank president, Gabriela Nunez, told Reuters this week.
The vast majority of Latin American migrants live and work in the United States, in jobs ranging from cooks to decorators and factory workers. The money they send back to relatives has increased dramatically in recent years, giving a boost to their home economies and strengthening local currencies.
The cash transfers are equivalent to 21 percent of gross domestic product in Honduras, and almost as much in neighboring El Salvador and Guatemala.
"Remittances are like an addiction for Latin America. It is always craving more. Remittances feed consumption, the banking system and the stability of society in places like El Salvador," said Juan Jose Garcia, a remittances consultant in San Salvador.
He said a quarter of all families in El Salvador live from the cash sent by relatives in the United States.
The failure of a U.S. immigration reform bill in Congress last month, an increase in deportations of illegal immigrants and plans to build a fence along the border with Mexico all make it harder for Latin Americans trying to get to the United States and for those already working there.
HOUSING WOES
In addition, the U.S. housing sector is suffering one of its worst slowdowns in decades with an inventory build-up of new homes and a crisis in the subprime market, which caters to borrowers with poor credit. Many of those are also immigrants.
Hispanic workers filled two of every three new construction jobs in the United States in 2006 and accounted for a quarter of the 11.8 million workers in the sector, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, an independent U.S research organization.
Mexico was the top recipient of remittances in Latin America last year with $23 billion from its migrants, mainly in the United States. Brazil was in second place with $7.4 billion, and Colombia third with $4.6 billion.
Mexico's remittances rose 15 percent in 2006, but were up just 1.7 percent in the first five months of this year and the decline in May was a clear warning sign.
Economists say Latin American nations need to use the money sent home by migrants to help stimulate growth by encouraging recipients to open bank accounts, invest in pension funds and take out loans to start businesses.
"The challenge ... is to find ways so these flows may have a greater development impact by offering migrants and their families more options to get more out of their money," Donald Terry, the Inter-American Development Bank's multilateral investment fund manager said recently in Guatemala. (Additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Honduras, Elzio Barreto in Brazil, Herbert Hernandez in Guatemala and Alberto Barrera in El Salvador)
Let's try going cold turkey, Juan?
Saving up money to self-deport. ;>)
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
This is one of the prime reasons that the unemployment rate hasn’t moved due to the housing slump. The slave labor is being let go.
Here's a crazy idea. When you were getting lots of money, why not create a business in your home town that would bring increased income to the community? Making sandals or hammocks or something.
Or you could choose to become the new welfare community.
TAX THESE REMITTANCES. TAX THEM HEAVILY.
The IRS should be all over those ‘remittances’ to make sure they have had the tax paid on them before going out of the US. If not, they should be seized.
Sickening. If it were up to me this nation would cut off all ties with Mexico and Latin America. They need to grow up and stop depending on us and sending their unwanted people here
Hispanic workers filled two of every three new construction jobs in the United States in 2006 and accounted for a quarter of the 11.8 million workers in the [construction] sector, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, an independent U.S research organization.Mexico was the top recipient of remittances in Latin America last year with $23 billion from its
migrantsILLEGALS, mainly in the United States. Brazil was in second place with $7.4 billion, and Colombia third with $4.6 billion.Mexico's remittances rose 15 percent in 2006...
By George, way to go!!!
You can ammend this on to the Patriot Act as a form of anti-terrorism legislation.
Which Republican Congressman has the testes to introduce it?
It would pass. Then, any bank, Western Union, etc, would need to have definitive citizenship information or visa/passport information with a valid visa for non citizens or tourists, in order for them to do any remittances.
That would kill illegal immigration with a stab to the heart. If there were no way for illegals to get their gains back to their countries except through courier or themselves, they would have no reason for staying up here.
The Treasury Department could ammend these rules and inform all financial instutition and money shops in the United States.
Cut the addictive imports and exports, time to wean the damn socialist, we’ve been supporting our friggin enemies long enough...get tough with the Red tide both in Latin America and elsewhere (China, Korea & Russia). Cut ‘em loose and let’s see them swim or not...that goes for all foreign aid also!
That’s terrible! Unreal. Those were GOOD jobs!!
exactly!
no “lettuce” there!
I wonder if the Democraps would be willing to do that.They sure are quick to tax the American Working people.They tax us to death.
“Remittances are like an addiction for Latin America. It is always craving more. Remittances feed consumption, the banking system and the stability of society in places like El Salvador,” said Juan Jose Garcia, a remittances consultant in San Salvador.
For all the faithful in those countries, build your own country’s infrastructure. There’s no place like home.
“THOU SHALT NOT COVET” —
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”
Holy crap, real journalism from Reuters! Whouda thunk it?
ping
Weird, huh! I was wondering about one of the facts in this article, though It states that illegals are working "in jobs ranging from cooks to decorators and factory workers."
Decorators? Is that a fancy new way of referring to graffiti artists?
Tax money transfers out of the US I say!
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