Rodolfo García Zamora, a migration expert at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, estimated that Zacatecas received about $1 million in remittances each day, an amount that is greater than the money this state receives from the national government.
One day, however, Facebook might be able to challenge the remittance industry that charges foreign workers exorbitant fees sometimes in the 10% to 20% range to send money home to their families.
The day after the relaxation of restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba, Fidel Castro devoted his regular newspaper column to the anniversary of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion orchestrated by the CIA, warning his fellow Cubans not to forget.
The 2008 report was released Wednesday, the same day that Banco de Mexico announced a 2.9% drop in remittances.
We need to think not just of the day to day but long-term sustainability," says Wongbe, who received remittances during the Liberian war and now regularly sends his father money.
The news comes one day after U.S.-based Veem (formerly Align Commerce) raised $24 million to expand its international remittance services.
Livestock rearing continues to be the most important economic activity in the region to this day, however a greater diversity of income sources now contributes to family incomes, including remittances (GRDR 2011).
Today, poverty is so severe that nearly 6,000 Filipinos leave the country every single day in search of work; the Philippine economy would collapse were it not for $27 billion in remittances these migrant workers send home annually.
The Philippine government, which increasingly depends on the $7 billion in remittances that come from overseas workers, has negotiated agreements with foreign governments that require that maids be given a day off per week.
On Wednesday, Ade Daramy discusses remittances, and on Thursday, Jemilah Mahmood explores arguments for Zakat.
