The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported that in the first two months of 2021 remittances increased 31.3%, registering an amount of 1,553.8 million dollars, a figure that exceeds 370.7 million those received in the same period of 2020.

In particular, January registered a year-on-year growth of US $ 206.0 million, 35.1%, reaching 792.8 million. February added  761.0 million for an increase of 27.6%, an additional 164.7 million dollars, which contributed to the country receiving foreign exchange earnings of1,553.8 million dollars. between the two months.

The Central Bank explained that the recovery of economic conditions in the United States, the country where 84.6% of the flows in February came from, continues to be the main factor that influences the behavior of remittances.

“Evidence of this recovery of the North American economy is found in the employment figures, which at the end of February indicate the creation of 379, 000 jobs, bringing the unemployment rate to a level of 6.2%, after having been in 6.7% in December. In a particular way, the unemployment of Hispanics in the United States decreased from 9.3% in December 2020 to 8.5% in February 2021 ”, the financial entity pointed out through a press release.

This improvement in the flow of foreign currency, together with the participation of the Central Bank in the foreign exchange market through its Electronic Foreign Exchange Trading Platform, have allowed maintaining the relative stability of the exchange rate in recent months, in such a way that in the In February, the exchange rate appreciated 0.6% compared to December 2020, according to the entity.

The entity reported that this has also allowed the accumulation of international reserves around 12,000 million dollars, approximately 15% of GDP and equivalent to more than seven months of imports, higher than the metrics recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).