Remittances to HCMC climb to $3.25 bln in first 9 months

 Half of remittances sent to Vietnam have been put into savings, a study found. Photo by VnExpress

Most of the money were sent by Vietnamese living in Europe and the U.S.

Foreign remittances to Ho Chi Minh City in the first nine months increased 4 percent on-year to $3.25 billion, according to the central bank.

The HCMC branch of the State Bank of Vietnam said remittances to the city had continued to hit new highs by the end of September, with most of the money coming from Europe and the U.S.

Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the branch, said more of the remittances are being invested in business operations instead of savings.

Statistics from the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) show that half of the money sent back to Vietnam in the past five years has been deposited in banks or exchanged for gold, while more than 16 percent went into the real estate market, 30 percent was invested in businesses and the rest was simply spent.

HCMC has reported a steady growth in remittances of 10-12 percent in recent years, and the figure for this year is expected to reach $5.8 billion.

Vietnam recorded $12.25 billion in overseas remittances last year, and was ranked 11th by the World Bank among the world’s biggest beneficiaries of remittances. It was also third in Asia-Pacific, after China and the Philippines.

More than 80 percent of the remittances came from overseas Vietnamese, who number more than four million, according to a CIEM study.

By Le Chi / VnExpress