Dependents in the Caribbean are going to have to gird their loins for tougher times ahead, a circumstance that they can justifiably blame on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on remittance flows to the region, according to an end of October World Bank assessment of how the phenomenon has affected the amounts of money likely to be sent home by mostly US-based migrant workers next year.
The Bank’s October 29 Migration and Development Brief projects a decline of 14 percent in remittances next year compared with remittances in 2020, with the Caribbean, already likely to have to deal with heavy job losses, having to absorb its fair share of that decline.