Weekly Report - 11 April 2006

GUATEMALA | Remittances rising at 18%. Remittances by Guatemalan expatriates in March totalled US$278.8m, taking the accumulated total since the beginning of the year to US$782.49m, or 18% more than in the same period of 2005. Last year remittances by Guatemalan expatriates totalled US$2.99bn, equivalent to about 9% of GDP. If the current rate holds, this year's total should be well above US$3bn.