The recent report entitled "Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2012: Differing Behavior among Sub-regions" of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB) showed a slight increase in 2012 with respect to the previous year, of remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean, indicating that the region received a total of $61.3 billion in remittances last year.

This amount represents a year-on-year increase of $300 million, a 0.6% increase from 2011. After a historic high of nearly $65 billion in 2008, and a 15% drop due to the financial crisis in 2009, money transfers to the region have stabilized.

Remittance flows continue to represent an important source of foreign inflows in many of the countries in the region, and constitute more than 10% of the gross domestic product in several countries, including Haiti, Guyana, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Jamaica and Guatemala. These flows also represent an important source of income for the millions of families in the region that receive the transfers to cover basic needs and invest in education, health, housing, and small businesses.

Regarding Haiti, the report states that in 2012 Haiti received 1.988 billion dollars, in 2011, 2.057, in 2010 1.971, in 2009 1.641, in 2008 1.870, in 2007 1.830, in 2006 1.650, in 2005 1.077, in 2004 1.026, in 2003 978 millions, in 2002 932 millions and in 2001 810 millions. Our neighbor, the Dominican Republic received in 2012 $3.158 billion (3.131 in 2011).

The report explains that "At the same time, following the economic crisis, remittance inflows in the Caribbean region displayed an accelerated recovery in 2010 with a growth rate of 8.3%, attributed in large part to the unusually high volume of transfers received in Haiti in response to the earthquake experienced that year [January 2010]."

HL/ HaitiLibre