RemittancesGateway.org

Remittances sent to relatives by Hondurans living abroad totaled $1.82 billion during the first nine months of this year, down 10.9 percent from the same period in 2008, the Honduran Central Bank said Sunday.

During the January-September 2008 period, remittances totaled $2.04 billion, the central bank said. Remittances totaled $2.69 billion last year, up 7.3 percent from the $2.51 billion received in 2007.

The central bank warned late last year that remittances could drop in 2009 due to the recession in the United States, where thousands of Hondurans have lost their jobs in construction and other industries.

The remittances sent by the approximately 1 million Hondurans living in the United States are the main source of hard currency for Honduras, accounting for nearly 25 percent of the Central American country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Honduras also receives remittances from Canada, Mexico, Spain and Italy, among other countries.