Remittance flows forecast to increase in year-end months: experts

Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Ho Chi Minh City Branch Nguyen Duc Lenh said as of the end of September, the southern largest economic hub received more than US$6.68 billion in remittances, a year-on-year surge of 40% and equivalent to 101.3% of last year’s figure.

The robust growth of remittance inflows has backed the monetary and foreign exchange markets amidst fluctuation of strong currencies and high inflation rates in several countries, he stressed.

Remittances from Asia accounted for the lion's share, making up of 53.1% of the total, he said, elaborating that the growth can be attributed to the economic and political stability of the region, as well as expanding international economic relations and labour cooperation.

Lenh said that with a view to attracting more remittances in the year-end months, credit institutions should work to improve their service quality, while banks should pay attention to popularising remittance transfer and receipt services as well as local socio-economic development and business climate among Vietnamese expats.

Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, a finance-banking expert, said that amidst global headwinds, HCM City got an impressive amount of remittance during the first nine months of the year.

He quoted statistics from the SBV’s HCM City Branch as saying the city has been a leading locality in remittance inflows in recent five years, with the amount in 2018 accounting for 44.1% of the country’s total, 48% in 2019, 53.8% in 2020, 52.8% in 2021, and 55.03% in 2022.

Vietnam is ranked among the world's top 10 countries in terms of remittances, according to the World Bank. 

Around 5.3 million Vietnamese people reside in 130 countries and territories worldwide, with 2 million having connections to or originating from the city.

Remittances to Vietnam exceed US$10 billion each year. Last year, remittances to the country saw a nearly 5%, amounting to US$19 billion.