Plunge in Mexico remittances is worst on record

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Remittances from Mexicans living and working in the United States are continuing to fall.

‘Money sent home by Mexicans working abroad fell by 19.9 percent in May, the biggest monthly decline on record as the U.S. recession slashed jobs,’ reports the Associated Press in Business Week.

‘Remittances dropped to $1.9 billion from $2.4 billion in May 2008, the central bank said on Wednesday. The amount of money sent home in the first five months of 2009 fell 11.3 percent to $9.2 billion compared with the same period last year.

‘Remittances are the second-biggest source of foreign currency after oil exports in Mexico, and their decline has contributed to the country’s own economic downturn.’

Read the full Business Week report

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City