ECUADOR: Ecuador remittances fall 21 pct in first 6 months

QUITO, Ecuador -- Ecuador's central bank says the money that citizens living abroad sent home during the first six months of the year dropped 21 percent from the same period of 2008.

A central bank report issued Monday says remittances totaled $1.2 billion from January through June, down from $1.5 billion in the first half of last year. The report blames rising unemployment in the United States and the European Union.

Remittances plunged 22 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, leaving last year down 8.6 percent from 2007. Read more

ECUADOR-SPAIN: Cash from Ecuadorians in Spain to spur business

10 July 2007
MADRID - The Ecuadorian government backed a plan to convert remittances sent home by its citizens living in Spain into "a springboard for (Ecuador's) development".
Spain and Ecuador signed a cooperation agreement that will make possible the creation of micro-businesses and other projects.
Ecuadorian Emigration Minister William Murillo went to his country's Embassy in Spain to sign the accord with the UCMTA union with an eye toward better taking advantage of the remittances sent by Ecuadorians to their relatives back home. Murillo is in this capital as part of the political and business mission of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who is due in Spain this week.

"We need the remittances not to be a source of money for consumption, but rather to be a springboard for the country's development," Murillo told Efe. [Read more]