Remittances pick up in first quarter of 2017 — CBJ

AMMAN — Expatriates’ remittances during the first quarter of 2017 increased by 3.3 per cent to $856 million, compared with $607 million in the same period of last year, Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) Deputy Governor Adel Sharkass said on Thursday.

The CBJ has announced earlier that tourism revenues in the January-March period went up by 14.1 per cent, standing at $988 million, compared with $866 million in the same period of the previous year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The total income from tourism and Jordanian expatriates' remittances reached $1.844 billion by the end of the first quarter this year. 

State Minister for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani cited the increase as a “sign of the trustworthiness of the national economy”.

CBJ data showed that expatriates’ remittances in March 2017 alone increased by 2.2 per cent to $296 million, compared with $289.4 million in March 2016. 

The value of tourism revenues and expatriates’ remittances stood at $7.8 billion in 2016, witnessing an increase in the last quarter, according to CBJ. The figures showed that the remittances stood at $3.7 billion, recording a 2.4-per cent drop compared to 2015.