Many experts expected remittances to Mexico to plummet in 2020, as businesses and workers faced economic hardship brought on by the pandemic. Instead, Mexicans living abroad sent home record amounts of money last year.
In response to the record high payments, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his compatriots working abroad in the United States and elsewhere “heroes, and heroines, equivalent to the doctors and nurses who are saving lives.”
“This was an exceptional year,” he added. “It was a record, something that’s never happened, and in the most difficult moments.”
Money sent home by Mexicans living outside of the country — predominantly in the United States — during the first 11 months of last year reached a record setting $36.9 billion, outpacing all of 2019, which had been a record high year with $36 billion in remittances. Officials estimate the 2020 year-end total will reach $40.6 billion — 11% higher than in 2019.
López Obrador praised those sending money home, acknowledging that the funds helped many Mexican families weather an economic crisis.
The Mexican government has provided little relief for struggling businesses and workers who’ve lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Source: Fronteras Desk
