By NAN Business Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Oct. 31, 2016: Remittance flows or money transfers from migrants overseas continues to be a big part of foreign capital inflow into the Caribbean. Five countries in the Eastern Caribbean have received the most remittances so far this year from their nationals abroad. They are:
1: Barbados
In the number one spot is the Eastern Caribbean country of Barbados. The country, which is gearing up to mark its 50 anniversary of independence from Britain this November, received some USD 109 million so far this year, an increase by some 2.4 percent according to World Bank data.
2: St. Kitts & Nevis
Coming in at second is the Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis which received USD 52 million so far this year according to The World Bank’s latest paper on Migration and Development remittances to Latin American and Caribbean. That is an increase of 5.6 percent from last year.
3: St. Vincent and the Grenadines
St. Vincent and the Grenadines received USD 32 million in remittances from its nationals overseas so far this year, according to the World Bank data, to land it at third on our Top 5 list. This was an increase of 4.2 percent from last year.
4: St. Lucia
The nation of the Pitons took the fourth spot on our list of five Eastern Caribbean nations receiving the most remittances this year. They received some USD 31 million in remittances so far this year, data from the World Bank shows, an increase of some 2.1 percent for the same period last year.
5: Dominica
Rounding out the top five list is Dominica. The Commonwealth of Dominica received USD 24 million for this year, according to the World Bank, an increase of 4.4 percent from last year.
“Remittances continue to be an important component of the global economy, surpassing international aid,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director of the World Bank’s Global Indicators Group recently, as the paper notes that remittances flows to the Caribbean and Latin America region increased during the first eight months of 2016 due possibly to the recovery of the US economy, which is in its seventh year of expansion, and a slight recovery in Spain in the second quarter of 2016.
