APD | Vietnam among top ten remittance receivers in 2018

By APD writer Alice

Hanoi, Dec.12 (APD) – Vietnam is expected to remain one of the top ten remittance receivers in 2018, according to the latest edition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief released last weekend.

A sum of 15.9 billion USD in remittances was projected to flow into Vietnam for the full year, making the Southeast Asian country the tenth largest remittance receiver — in dollar terms - in the world.

The top remittance-receiving countries were India (75.9 billion USD), China (64.7 billion USD), the Philippines (33.7 billion USD), Mexico (33.7 billion USD), Egypt (25.7 billion USD) and Nigeria (25.1 billion USD).

Financial and banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said that remittance flow into Vietnam had stayed on an upward trend from the beginning of this year. This was mainly because Vietnamese people working abroad believed in the stability of the economy and saw better investment opportunities in the domestic market, he said.

Hieu said that remittances to Vietnam were largely used to invest in the real estate market, production and business. “Remittances flowing into Vietnam in 2018 will continue to rise,” He predicted.

He said the central bank keeping its zero interest for deposits in US dollar would encourage remittances into Vietnam to be used for investment rather being kept in banks.

World Bank statistics showed that remittances into Vietnam in 2017 reached a record high of 13.81 billion USD, an increase of 16 percent over 2016.

In the East Asia and Pacific region, Vietnam ranked third in terms of remittances after China and the Philippines.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)