El Salvador remittances fall 10.8% in 7 months

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- El Salvador received just over 2 billion U.S. dollars in remittances in January-July period this year, a 10.8 percent drop compared to the same period in 2008, said the news reaching here on Monday.

Remittances entering El Salvador have shown increasing year-on-year declines since October 2008. The July remittance is 286.1 million U.S. dollars, which is 13.8 percent lower than that of last July, according to local media in San Salvador, capital of the country.

"The performance of Hispanics in the United States is one of the factors that impacts the fall of remittances," the central bank stated on its website.

Around 2.5 million Salvadorians now live in the United States, including more than 200,000 under the provisions of the Temporary Protected Status program, which could grant the right to live and work in the U.S.. The program is set to expire till next September.