SUVA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Fiji's personal remittances soared to a record high of 1.25 billion Fijian dollars (about 554 million U.S. dollars) in 2023, marking a significant increase of 20.4 percent over the previous year, showed data from the Westpac Banking Corporation.
Westpac Senior Economist Shamal Chand said the growth is attributed to rising migration and support from the Fijian diaspora overseas, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday.
Chand said the country's personal remittances to date this year already reached 189.7 million Fijian dollars (about 84.2 million U.S. dollars), an increase of 9.8 percent compared to last year.
The remittances, which have played a crucial role in boosting domestic consumption and assisting low and middle-income households during the post-COVID-19 recovery phase, are expected to continue growing due to significant out-migration over the past couple of years, the economist said.
He added that the mobile digital wallet has become one of the preferred platforms for sending money back home by overseas Fijians.
Out of total remittance inflows in 2023, 38 percent was received through mobile digital wallets, a substantial increase from just 1.2 percent in 2016, Chand said. ■
