Mexican remittance recipients get more pesos as dollar strengthens

• Source: Xinhua
• [12:57 July 15 2009]
• Comments

Mexican remittance recipients got 21 percent more pesos in real terms during the first half of this year as the U.S. dollar strengthens, a banker said Tuesday. 

Mexicans received a total of 60.4 billion pesos during the first half year, up 25 percent from a year earlier, or 21 percent after adjusting for inflation, said Moises Jaimes, director general of ancomer Transfer Services.

In dollar terms, Mexicans based in the United States sent home 4.3 billion during the same period, 4.5 percent less than a year earlier. During the first six months of this year, 1 dollar can be valued at 13.8 pesos on average, compared with 10.5 pesos during the same period last year.

The Mexican peso has weakened sharply because Mexican companies have been buying large amounts of currency from the central bank, weakening its reserves.

The Bancomer Transfer Services handles 59 percent of all transfers sent from the United States and a large amount of these end up in saving accounts within the parent bank BBVA Bancomer.