In recent years remittances sent by Latin American and Caribbean citizens living abroad have become a major source of capital for many countries in the region. According to MIF estimates, last year Latin America and the Caribbean received more than $45.8 billion from their expatriate workers.

Despite the magnitude of these flows, the region still lacks a uniform methodology to collect information and statistical data on remittances. The project supported by the MIF aims to fill this gap.

The project will be carried out by the Mexico City-based Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), a regional association of central banks involved in technical assistance, training, information dissemination and research on monetary issues.

The central banks of Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, as well as the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, have expressed interest in taking part in the project.

Central banks from other regions of the world and multilateral agencies will be invited to form an international advisory committee to provide guidance and to coordinate this project with other efforts underway to improve statistics on remittances.

The MIF expects this project will help spotlight the importance of remittances and their economic and social impact in the region, promoting greater transparency in money transfer systems, more competition among service providers and greater access to formal financial services for the families that receive these flows.

The MIF, an autonomous fund administered by the IDB, supports economic growth and poverty reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean by encouraging private investment and private sector development in the region.