Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean: Goals and Recomendations

This presentation enumerates the Inter-American Development Bank's (IADB) goals and its recommendations for facilitating remittance flows to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The presentation highlights that in the coming years, IADB will work with a network of participating stakeholders to help reach two goals by 2010:

• Reduce by 50% the average cost of LAC remittance market transactions by promoting competition;
• Increase to 50% the number of families receiving remittances through the financial system.

The presentation also gives the following recommendations for the LAC remittance market:

• For remittance institutions:
  • Disclose complete information on total costs and transfer conditions;
  • Refrain from unfair pricing and the use of high exchange rate margins;
  • Apply cost effective technology and deploy innovative platforms to cut costs, improve speed and security, and create new products.
• For public authorities:
  • Avoid attempts to tax, over regulate or otherwise take actions that impede the flow of remittances;
  • Improve systems for collecting and reporting remittance market data;
  • Mainstream remittances into financial institutions by improving regulatory and financial sector frameworks.
• For civil society:
  • Identify and address obstacles to leveraging the development impact of remittances;
  • Support the social and financial inclusion of transnational families into their communities, and develop innovative partnerships to promote training and local productive opportunities.