HCM City received US$3.2 billion worth of remittances in the first six months of 2021. — Photo baodautu.vn

HCM CITY — Remittances to HCM City topped US$3.2 billion in the first half of the year, a 22.34 per cent increase year-on-year.

Nguyễn Hoàng Minh, deputy director of the State Bank of Việt Nam’s HCM City office, said the growth was impressive considering the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The remittances went mainly into manufacturing and other businesses, and ensure there was no foreign currency supply volatility, he said.

This year the city is expected to get around $6.5 billion worth of remittances.

For many years they have been rising, and the city accounts for half of the country’s remittances.

Around two million people hailing from HCM City live abroad, and last year they sent home US$6.1 billion, up 15 per cent from 2019, before the pandemic struck.

Banks have been making investments to improve remittance services and launching promotional programmes to attract more of them.

Việt Nam received US$17.2 billion worth of remittances last year, the third highest in the East Asia and Pacific.

They have grown at an average of 6 per cent annually. — VNS