Vietnam receives 12 bln USD of overseas remittances in 2014: central bank

Vietnam received a record 12 billion U.S. dollars of overseas remittances in 2014, of which 5.1 billion U.S. dollars was poured into the southern Ho Chi Minh City, according to a central bank official.

Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director the State Bank of Vietnam ( SBV) in HCM City told State-run Radio the Voice of Vietnam on Tuesday that the city received 300 million U.S. dollars more than the previous year.

Most of the overseas remittances came from the United States, China's Taiwan, Australia and the Middle East.

In HCM City, overseas remittances mainly were invested into manufacturing (71.4 percent) and real estate (22.1 percent).

Vietnam's new policy allowing foreigners to invest in real estate is forecast to attract higher overseas remittances in 2015, which is estimated to increase by 10 percent, said the central bank official.