Remittances to El Salvador Drop

Remittances from abroad are one of the main drivers of El Salvador's economy, and this year that flow of money is down more than 9%:
SAN SALVADOR – Remittances from emigrants, most of them in the United States, fell 9.3 percent in the first 11 months of this year compared with the same period in 2008, El Salvador’s central bank said Thursday.

Salvadoran households received $3.13 billion from relatives abroad between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, down $321.7 million from last year’s level, the Banco Central de la Reserva said in a statement.

For El Salvador to recover from the economic downturn, the US economy will need to recover and produce jobs for Salvadorans living in the US.

Comments

George Fulmore said…
In Northern California, I volunteer at a day-labor office. Most of the workers are Latino men; most are from Mexico, but there are always some from El Salvador. Work really dried up in 2009, compared with 2008. The bulk of the work comes from homeowners wanting to have painting, yardwork or simple construction done. These guys are in addition to the hundreds of guys who hang out at Home Depot, U-haul and other places hoping for work. Folks in the U.S. just stopped spending money last year, relative to the past. It will get better. It has to.
2:23 PM
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