Strong remittance flows for 2010

According to State Bank statistics, around $7.6 billion in overseas remittances were injected into the country in the first 11 months. Inbound capital was expected to be around $770 million in December, bringing the year’s total to more than $8 billion, up 25.6 per cent on-year.

State Bank Ho Chi Minh City branch deputy director Nguyen Hoang Minh said overseas remittances via city-based commercial banks would amount to $4 billion this year, 30 per cent more than 2009’s figure.

DongA Bank’s Overseas Remittance Company deputy head Trinh Hoai Nam said the remittance inflows through the company had exceeded $1.1 billion in the first 11 months and would be around $1.2 billion in the whole year, some $200 million more than projection and up 20 per cent on-year.

A Vietcombank representative said the bank had received around $1.1 billion worth in remittances in the first 11 months and also forecast $1.2 billion for the whole year.

Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank’s Overseas Remittance Company (SBR) said the company was close to fulfill the year’s target in overseas remittance revenue in just 11 months. This year, SBR expects to post $1 billion in its overseas remittance revenue, a jump of over 10 per cent against last year’s $900 million.

Minh attributed higher remittance inflows this year to the global economic rebound and marked improvements in the service network and quality at local banks and financial institutions.

DongA Bank said remittance inflows mainly came from some traditional markets such as US, Canada, and Australia as well as from Vietnam’s major labour export markets such as South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Rising capital inflows are forecast to continue in the first two months of 2011 on the back of the Lunar New Year which will strike in early February, 2011.

Besides overseas remittances, according to State Bank, around $800 million worth in foreign indirect investment was pumped into Vietnam in the year ending November and around $9.95 billion direct foreign investment capital was disbursed in the first 11 months of 2010, a 9.9 per cent on-year jump.