Inward remittances to Ho Chi Minh City reached about USD 4.2 billion in the first 9 months of this year, an increase of 6% year-on-year, despite the negative impact of Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Minh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam branch in Ho Chi Minh City, said that this amount of remittances to the city mainly flows into production and business instead of real estate, securities and savings. It is expected that this year, remittances will reach about USD 5.5 billion, an increase of 8% compared to 2019.

In recent years, inward remittances to Ho Chi Minh City have increased by an average of 8-10% per year. Remittances often depend on macroeconomic conditions, the situation of overseas workers, remittance attraction services, etc.

According to representative of the State Bank of Ho Chi Minh City branch, from the beginning of the year to date, the amount of remittances sent home has been stable and steadily increased despite the negative impact of Covid-19. In particular, the amount of remittances still comes mainly from the US and European markets.

Vietnam's macroeconomic stability and the pressure to increase the exchange rate due to market sentiment has been somewhat eliminated, making remittance recipients also gradually switch from foreign currencies to holding VND.

As a result, the USD/VND exchange rate is quite stable in the long run despite fluctuations in the world market. Each USD is listed by banks at around 23,090 - 23,270 dong, unchanged for many consecutive days.

According to the World Bank (WB), in 2019, remittances to Vietnam reached USD 16.7 billion, in 2018  of nearly USD 16 billion. The figure in 2017 was USD 13.8 billion, in 2016 was USD 11.88 billion. It is forecasted that this year, remittances will continue to flow strongly to Vietnam although the pandemic has changed the world in many aspects.

Kylie Nguyen