Mexico sees 1st big remittances rebound since 2008

[February 03, 2012]  MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The amount of money Mexican migrant workers sent home in 2011 increased by 6.86 percent over the year before, the first major rebound in remittances since the 2008 economic downturn, Mexico's central bank announced.

Remittances totaled just over $22.7 billion in 2011, up from $21.27 billion in 2010, the bank said Wednesday. The 2010 figure represented an increase of just 0.12 percent over the $21.24 billion sent home in 2009.

There had been a precipitous 15.5-percent drop in remittances between 2008 and 2009.

"The growth is due to a recovery in U.S. employment, especially among the Latino sector and especially among Mexicans," said Victor Corona, a migration and remittances expert at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas.

Remittances are Mexico's second-largest source of foreign income after oil exports. Nearly all the money comes from the U.S., where nearly 12 million Mexican citizens live.

[Associated Press]

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