Posts Tagged ‘latin america’
Posted on October 24, 2008 - by lincolnw
Remittances to Latin America Decline as Global Economy Sours
The amount of money sent home to families in Latin American countries by relatives living abroad is projected to grow by its slowest rate on record this year, according to a report to be released today by the Washington bank that tracks such transfers.
A slowdown would not only potentially exacerbate poverty in home countries but is also an indication of the economic troubles facing Latin American immigrants in the United States and elsewhere, according to the Inter-American Development Bank…{click this link to read the rest of the article}
Posted on October 22, 2008 - by lincolnw
Andean countries boast best business climate for microfinance, according to index
ASUNCION, Paraguay – Peru has the best business conditions for microfinance in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the results of the Microscope index presented today by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The EIU, a specialized service of the prestigious magazine The Economist, developed the Microscope index last year with support from the IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) and CAF. The index consists of a scorecard that weighs factors such as the investment climate, the development of public institutions and the regulatory frameworks for microfinance in 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The results of this year’s study, which was broadened to include more countries and deepened to survey more experts and practitioners, were discussed at the Microenterprise Forum organized by the MIF and the Paraguayan government, October 8-10…{click this link to read the rest of the article}
Posted on October 15, 2008 - by lincolnw
Remittances and Microfinance 2008
Remittances, the portion of international migrant workers’ earnings sent back from the country of employment to the country of origin, play an important role in the economies of many developing countries. An annual statistical report done by the World Bank shows that remittances account for 5% of the GDP for low-income developing countries as of 2006. Although this figure might seem small, many countries in particular have a much higher percentage of their GDP based in Remittances; Guyana, Haiti and Honduras are all close to 25%. The Philippines, Nicaragua, Nepal, Guatemala and El Salvador are all in the 10-20% range. Jack Kimball of Reuters points out that “remittance cash may be as much as 50 percent higher than current estimates due to informal transfers.” Global remittances from foreign workers make up an estimated $300 billion a year, three times as much as the foreign aid paid out by governments in the developed world…{click here to read the rest of this article}
