Remittances inflow up 28% to $ 2.1 b

Central Bank said yesterday workers’ remittances in May increased by 36.8% to $414 million over the same month of 2010, recording a cumulative inflow of $2,103 million for the first five months of 2011.

Earnings from tourism grew at a healthy rate of 54.5% to $318 million during the first five months of the year while inflows to the government during the same period amounted to $497 million.

The gross official reserves continued to remain above the targeted level and stood at $7.5 billion by end June 2011, without Asian Clearing Union (ACU) balances. Based on the previous 12-month average expenditure on imports of $1,372 million per month, the gross official reserves without ACU balances were equivalent to 5.4 months of imports.