Guatemala: Remittances grow in June
Remittances totaled USD 963.3 million in June, marking a 9.2% year-on-year increase (May: USD 836.0 million; -14.2% yoy) and the first annual increase since February?one month before Covid-19 hit the United States and much of the world, leading to widespread lockdowns and a surge in unemployment, particularly in the U.S. Nonetheless, the print is still down from October’s high of USD 1,000 million. On a 12-month rolling basis, remittances growth was stable at May’s 6.6% in June.
Remittances are a key source of income for Guatemalan families and tend to follow employment trends in the United States, where the majority of remittance payments originate from. Given that remittances fell significantly in the quarter as a whole, consumption likely took a hit in the second quarter.