The Change Mariner

Workers in U.S. Remit $13.3 Billion to Mexico

Mercury News:

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Money sent back to Mexico by workers living in the United States hit a record $13.3 billion last year, surpassing foreign investment inflows for the first time.

Statistics from the Bank of Mexico issued this week show remittances 35 percent higher than in 2002. The average transfer was $321.

In its fourth-quarter inflation report, the central bank said the 2003 transfers beat foreign direct investment, which hit a seven-year low of $11 billion. Analysts say the economy is expected to have expanded only 1.2 percent in 2003.

"The important growth in transfers reflects, on one hand, improved monitoring of inflows, and on the other, a larger number of immigrants,'' the central bank said.

More than 20 million people of Mexican origin live in the United States, although only half of them are estimated to have a bank account. About 5 million Mexicans are thought to be working in the United States without legal status, which discourages them from approaching financial institutions.

Competition in the money-transfer market has intensified in the past two years as top U.S. banks looked for expansion alternatives in a fast-growing sector that was largely ignored in the past.