MEXICO CITY—Remittances to Mexico once again beat estimates in July, rising 7.2% from the same month of 2019 to $3.53 billion, reflecting 10.2% year-on-year growth for January-July.
“The advance was driven again mostly by the number of operations, which went up 5.8% year over year,” wrote Banorte, one of Mexico’s largest commercial banks, BN Americas.com reported. “On the other hand, the average amount sent stood at $343.30, a 1.3% advance, in our view signaling that migrants’ savings are being somewhat exhausted.”
The note added that August data will be critical in detecting any impact from supports that expired in July and the ongoing impasse in the U.S. Congress for additional measures.
“Nevertheless,” said the bank team, with the latest data, “we believe risks are tilted to the upside even with the anticipated decline in economic activity,” stating they now see full-year remittances matching 2019’s all-time record of $36 billion – a stark reversal of the same team’s early May estimate of a 20% contraction this year, BN Americas.com said.