Hourly Update

Mexico studies how to make better use of migrant money sent home

MEXICO CITY - Mexico is looking for ways to ensure that the millions of dollars migrants send home each year arrive safely and are invested wisely. Mexicans living abroad, mostly in the United States, are expected to send $15 billion home this year, a record amount and the country's second-largest source of foreign income, behind oil. President Vicente Fox's administration has long tried to encourage migrants to invest the money in projects and businesses that create jobs and help local economies - rather than just using the remittances to build another room on their home or pay a smuggler to get another family member across the border. On Wednesday, officials kicked off a two-day meeting aimed at studying ways to put remittances to work, ensure money arrives as it is supposed to, and continue lowering electronic transfer fees. Magdalena Carral, commissioner for the National Migration Institute, said Mexico wasn't trying to tell migrants how to spend their money. "There is no doubt. The money is theirs and they are the ones who have to decide how to invest it," she said. "Still ... the public and private sectors can and should generate alternatives that allow migrants to find the best place for their resources." She encouraged families to invest the money in Mexico, helping to create jobs at home so that fewer people have to work illegally in the United States. "With a serious, strong and permanent analysis of the remittances situation, we can make sure that migration is an option in life and not a necessity," she said. During the meeting, which ends Thursday, officials are studying ways other countries - including Portugal - have put remittances to work. "I am sure that with so many experts meeting and with concrete questions to answer, we can achieve more," Carral said. Felipe Cabral, president of a migrant group in Los Angeles, applauded efforts at lowering transfer fees, but said discussing investment plans for migrants was a waste of time. "People are going to spend the money on what they want, what they need," he said. "The government's job is to regulate and monitor the agencies that send the money. They charge high commissions, and it's robbery." Sending money home to Mexico has gotten cheaper and easier in the past four years, as more migrants in the United States open bank accounts and banks lower their fees for wiring money abroad. Migrants often used to send money home with friends as cash, but identification cards issued by the Mexican consulate in the United States have helped migrants open bank accounts and enter the formal economy. Things also have been made easier by Mexico's booming banking industry, which is encouraging people to open accounts after years of catering mainly to the rich. Mexicans are also beginning to trust banks again after years of economic crashes. Last year, migrants sent home a record $13 billion. That record looks like it will be broken again this year, with $12.4 billion sent home through the first nine months of this year.