Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

According to new figures from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), remittances sent to Mexico from Mexicans living abroad in the United States reached record levels for the two-month period between January and February 2024.

Banxico’s data registered $9.85 million in remittances during the first two months of the year, despite a decrease in the annual remittance rate from 11.69 percent to 3.44 percent year-over-year.

Mexicans reportedly sent an average of $387 per remittance across a total of $23.51 million in remittance operations, both new records for the period.

Approximately $4.51 million were sent to Mexico in just February alone, a year-over-year increase of 3.44 percent.

 However, despite the surge in remittances in January and February, the Mexican government still predicts an overall drop in remittances in 2024 compared to 2023 due to the end of COVID-19 support benefits in the United States.

“A significant flow of remittances from abroad is estimated, although at a more moderate pace, mainly due to the exhaustion of government support in the United States, the lower excess of private savings and a less dynamic labor market than observed in 2023, the year in which low unemployment rates and high salaries were recorded for Mexican workers and those of Mexican origin in the United States,” the government stated in its Pre-Criteria 2025.