Remittances from Caymans to Jamaica Expected to Double

According to Bank of Jamaica data, Jamaica received just under US$1.77 billion in remittances in 2006, with the leading sources being the United States, followed by the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands. Following 2004’s Hurricane Ivan, the flows from Cayman in 2006 were at their most robust, rising 99 per cent to US$161.9 million from US$81 million in 2005.

Pre-‘Ivan’, the yearly growth in remittances from Cayman within this decade was 15 per cent on average. While the numbers for 2007 are not available, the total amount remitted to Jamaica up to September was US$1.3bn, resulting in expectations that the amount from the Caymans will be even higher this year.