January 4, 2017: Remittances to Mexico have jumped to their highest in 10 years since November. It is believed that this is possibly a result of Republican candidate Donald Trump going to be the 45th president of the United States.
Throughout his campaign Trump threatened to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement, impose high tariffs on certain products, deport illegal immigrants and even build a wall on the southern US border. Mexico’s currency struggled throughout his campaign and fell by almost 13 percent in the aftermath of the presidential election.
Mexicans abroad sent home nearly $2.4 billion in November, 24.7 percent higher than a year earlier, marking their fastest pace of expansion since March 2006, according to Mexican central bank data. The payments from Mexicans living in the United States are a key source of income for many families in Mexico, where around half the population lives in poverty.
Agustin Carstens, Mexico’s central bank governor, had in December said that a rise in remittances was due to a weak exchange rate, more US jobs and fears over Trump’s policies.