DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Dominican diaspora chief proposes fund from remittances

Santo Domingo.- National Council for Dominican Communities Abroad (CONDEX) executive vice president Alejandro Santos proposed the creation of a obligatory reserve in the Central Bank, from the amount of reserve transfers, to fund productive projects of the micro company.

Santos, who takes part in the National Unity Summit’s economy table, said remittances are important for economic and social development, since one tenth of the Dominican population abroad sends money to their relatives. Read more

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Nearly 40% of Dominican households receive remittances

Santo Domingo.– Thirty eight percent of Dominican households receive remittances that amount to over $3 billion US dollars. The majority of the recipients informally save an average of $1,400 dollars, revealed a study by Manuel Orozco, Director of the Program for Remittances and Development of the Inter-American Dialogue.

Orozco, who offered the conference “The Tendencies of Family Remittances and the Significance for the Dominican Republic in the Face of Changes in the World Economy,” held in the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) auditorium, talked about the impact the global recession could have on the sending of money in 2009.
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Thirty Eight Percent of Dominican Households Receive Remittances

This figure appeared in a survey done in the Dominican Republic in August 2008 by Manuel Orozco, of Inter-American Dialogue, who recently spoke at a FUNGLODE Conference

“The economic situation in the world has created a number of question marks about its impact on immigration and sending of money as well as fears about the future of exports and foreign investment,” said Orozco.

Thirty eight percent of Dominican households receive remittances that amount to over $3 billion US dollars. The majority of the recipients informally save an average of $1,400 dollars. Both of these pieces of data form part of a study presented by Manuel Orozco, Director of the Program for Remittances and Development of the Inter-American Dialogue, during the conference titled “The Tendencies of Family Remittances and the Significance for the Dominican Republic in the Face of Changes in the World Economy,” held on Friday in the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) auditorium.
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Dominicans got more than US$3 billion in remittances last year

SANTO DOMINGO.- Dominican Republic received more than US$3 billion in remittances in 2007 and the figure is expected to grow 5 percent this year, said Freddy Ortiz, head of the money-transfer agencies grouped in Aderedi.

He said more than RD$1.25 billion in remittances are distributed monthly in the country, with around 70 percent of that delivered straight to the beneficiary’s residence.

He said 30 percent of the remittances arrives in cities of the interior, where there’s more demand for home delivery, at a cost of two dollars each trip.

Ortiz, who denied that Aderedi is against the “bankarization,” or for the banks to also handle remittances, said the business is little understood here and abroad. "Simply the market is free, the customers are there and if they prefer to the money-transfers for their shipments, it’s mainly because they to take them at home to their places of origin here."

He said the money-transference industry is currently in one of its most difficult moments, mostly from the U.S. economic problems and the unemployment rate, which also affects Latinos

To send a remittance form New York costs one dollar if it’s to be paid in pesos, and not more than 2 percent if it’s for payment in dollars, Ortiz said. Source

Domincan Republic’s remittances reach a record US$2.B in 2007

SANTO DOMINGO.- In 2007 money remittances to the Domincan Republic reached US$2.980 million, a record in the 10 years since the figures have been registered.

With a population of some 9 million and with 14 percent living abroad- around 1.5 million according to an Immigration Department estimate- to establish a remittances business in Dominican Republic should be a true "hit," though in the last few years "this work is in frank decay," said Dominican Currency Remittance Companies Association (Aderedi) president Freddy Ortiz.

However, this type of business has contributed to reduce poverty in the country, since rural areas receive nearly 40 percent, another 40 percent in the cities, while of the total, 60 percent go to lower class families.

Dominican Republic’s remittances reach a record US$2.B in 2007

ANTO DOMINGO.- In 2007 money remittances to the Domincan Republic reached US$2.980 million, a record in the 10 years since the figures have been registered.

With a population of some 9 million and with 14 percent living abroad- around 1.5 million according to an Immigration Department estimate- to establish a remittances business in Dominican Republic should be a true "hit," though in the last few years "this work is in frank decay," said Dominican Currency Remittance Companies Association (Aderedi) president Freddy Ortiz. [Read more]

Dominican Republic: Remittances for development

Inter Press Service. Oct 25, 2007

Most money sent from abroad is used to purchase food.
Civil society organizations suggest that a plan be designed so that the money sent home by Dominicans abroad, known as remittances, will be used to foment development instead of simply going towards daily expenses.

The idea is “to deepen public reflection and debate to optimise the impact of remittances on the development of the national economy,” says a document by the Asociación Tú, Mujer, or “You, Woman” Association, in English, which is carrying out the Proyecto Remesas y Codesarrollo (Remittances and Co-development Project) under the sponsorship of international organizations.Legislators, ministers, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and delegates of civil society groups met Tuesday in a conference organized by the Association.

“We have to find mechanisms so that remittances are used more efficiently towards social development, and in the fight against poverty,” said Carmen Julia Gómez, the Association’s director of research and the head of the Remittances and Co-development Project. [Read more]

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Remittances for Development

By Diógenes PinaSANTO DOMINGO, Sep 18 (IPS) - Civil society organisations suggest that a plan be designed so that the money sent home by Dominicans abroad, known as remittances, will be used to foment development instead of simply going towards daily expenses.

The idea is "to deepen public reflection and debate to optimise the impact of remittances on the development of the national economy," says a document by the Asociación Tú, Mujer ("You, Woman" Association), which is carrying out the Proyecto Remesas y Codesarrollo (Remittances and Co-development Project) under the sponsorship of international organisations. Legislators, ministers, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and delegates of civil society groups met Tuesday in a conference organised by the Association.

"We have to find mechanisms so that remittances are used more efficiently towards social development, and in the fight against poverty," Carmen Julia Gómez, the Association’s director of research and the head of the Remittances and Co-development Project, told IPS. [Read more]