Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA'S BILLION dollar remittance industry is expected to further swell this year, based on trends over the past two years, industry players say.
Although Hurricane Ivan dealt a hard blow to Jamaica, financial experts forecast that more foreign currency inflows in the form of remittances will result in the hurricane's aftermath than over the corresponding period last year.
Figures from the Bank of Jamaica show that Jamaica received a total of $1.17 billion in remittances up to September this year. Last year, some $1.4 billion in remittances came to Jamaica, compared with $1.2 billion in 2002.
STILL BULLISH
Managers of several remittance companies say they expect the industry to remain bullish this year.
"Growth in remittances will be greater this year than last year," says Roger Williams, general manager of Grace, Kennedy Remittance Service, operators of Western Union in Jamaica. He expects the intake for this month to surpass last December's $150 million.
"If you look at the trends for each month this year, compared with the corresponding months for last year, there is growth," he states.
As it relates to Western Union, Mr. Williams also forecasts that based on trends so far this year, the company is expected to eclipse last year's performance.
"We expect remittances though to be more based on trends we've seen for this year, compared with last year," he projects.
So far this year, the average monthly remittance for the country is $130 million, compared with $118 million a month last year.
Kenarthur Mitchell, managing director of Sun Money Transfer, told The Gleaner this week that remittance value this year is expected to surpass last year's figure.
"Remittance depends a lot on the state of the economy; the more you have problems in Jamaica, the more you see remittances flowing in," he says, referring to the devastating impact of Hurricane Ivan.
He adds that he expects Sun Money Transfer to also reap the windfall being experienced in the industry.
"We expected that due to the hurricane we would have seen a reduction in remittances, but so far it has not shown a negative effect. We're still seeing growth," Mr. Mitchell said.
