Overseas remittances to HCMC reached US$5 billion last year with the strongest increase in December, reported Mr. Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in the city on January 10.
The city's remittances accounted for 57-58 percent of the country. In 2015, the ratio was about 45-47 percent.
According to Mr. Minh, the remittance in 2016 was not as expected after US president elect Donald Trump announced polices to support the national economy and improve the US dollar value.
In addition, the Federal Reserve System pushed up US dollar interest rates by the end of 2016 and expected to continue raising the rate an extra of three times this year. These have increased the dollar’s attractiveness.
Of the total remittance to the city last year, 72 percent ran into production and trading, 21.8 percent to real estate and 6.2 percent for solving family difficulties, Mr. Minh reported.
The volume of overseas remittances which citizens sold to banks for Vietnamese dong hiked nearly 5 percent over the previous year.
