Remittances to Honduras

No one doubts the importance that remittances constitute for the Honduran economy and for the rest of the developing nations in Latin America, both remittances coming from the United States as well as those sent from other countries. But the latest Inter-American Development Bank report suggests that the remittances are actually showing a tendency to decrease with respect to previous years, which does not help our already bleak economic panorama, already finding itself seriously threatened by an eminent global recession, an inflation together with the price of food and fuels, like a global competition without end regarding commercial, industrial, and tourism issues.

The IDB’s report indicates that in the last few years millions of Latin immigrants have suspended their remittances to their relatives and loved ones and that many already contemplate the possibility of returning to their countries of origin for different motives. According to the study, the principal motive that those interviewed have for restraining the remittances is the fear that they feel regarding their lack of work stability, 81 percent of people demonstrating that it is now more difficult to find a well paid job and 40 percent expressing that they currently receive a lower salary than last year. In addition, 18 percent of those interviewed reported that they work in the construction industry, very hurt recently by the fall of the sector.

One of the most dramatic secondary effects of these conditions is that approximately 49 percent of people interviewed reveal their intention to return to their native country above all because their earnings have lost great purchasing power before the escalation of food prices and they can no longer face their necessities, much less have something left over to share with their families in the distance.

Another enormous worry for those interviewed is the growing pressure that the United States migratory authority is exercising on foreign workers who do not have permission to stay, the penalties applied to employers that contract people with irregular status and an anti-immigrant sentiment that is more evident in that nation every day. This proves particularly worrisome due to the fact that about forty seven percent of those interviewed revealed that they do not possess legal migratory status in this country.

The IDB report is congruent with the estimations and analysis of all the organizations and serious institutions that have studied the remittance phenomenon which concur in that eventually they will disappear, as is already happening in Mexico where it is estimated that three million people will stop receiving help that their relatives manage abroad with enormous sacrifice.

We trust that the warning offered by the IBD will serve so that the necessary preventions to protect our economy from this eventuality will be applied and we hope that warning bells will also serve so that the beneficiaries of these valuable resources get their acts together, taking the measures that are necessary to give them best use and not use them to purchase luxury items. Let us remember: “a warned soldier does not die in war”.