Ho Chi Minh City tallied 6.687 billion USD in overseas remittances during the first nine months of 2023, up 40% year on year and 1.3% over all of 2022, according to the local branch of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

The remittances stood at 2.353 billion USD in the third quarter, up 6.2% from Q2. Totals in Q2 were up 4.5% from Q1, statistics show.

Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the SBV branch in HCM City, said the strong upward trend in overseas remittances is impressive, and it will have positive impact on the economy in multiple aspects.

He considered overseas remittances a “golden” resource for socio-economic development as it helps families improve quality of life and also stimulates the labour market.

In Q3, the money from Asia continued to account for the most, 53.1%, and increased 19.8% from the previous quarter.

The economic, political, and social stability in Asia, together with Vietnam’s growing economic, cultural, and labour cooperation with foreign partners will directly boost remittances in the time ahead, he noted.

In particular, amid the mounting pressure on foreign exchange rates, money sent back from abroad forms a source of foreign currency that bolsters supply and demand.

This effectively supports the monetary and foreign exchange markets. It is even more important as fluctuations of strong currencies and high global inflation puts pressure on local foreign exchange rates, interest rates, and inflation, said the SBV official.

VNA