This paper provides an overview of remittances and migration between Honduras and the United States and analyzes the remittance regulatory and market environment, including financial inclusion strategies, transnational economic activities, and the impact of remittances on the Honduran economy. 'The U.S.-Honduras Remittance Corridor' makes policy recommendations to the authorities of Honduras and the United States, especially for regulatory reforms that promote the integrity and efficiency of money transfer businesses. We also recommend the development of financial infrastructures in rural areas for better distribution of remittances. Furthermore, we suggest that public policy should be more focused on building an environment for investment in the community and developing local businesses that export to Honduran communities abroad.

The report is part of the Bilateral Remittance Corridor Analysis (BRCA) initiative. The report US-Honduras Remittance Corridor: Acting on Opportunity to Increase Financial Inclusion and Foster Development of a Transnational Economy provides an overview of remittances and migration between the Honduras and the United State. The report analyzes the remittance regulatory and market environment, financial inclusion strategies by financial institutions, transnational economic activities, and the impacts of remittances on the Honduran economy. The chapter 2 provides analysis of remittance market environment including factors that influence migrants' choices of remittance channels, remittance market by type of remittance service providers, and cost of sending remittances. The chapter also analyzes regulatory frameworks including detailed requirements for financial institutions to conduct remittance services and requirements to comply with the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism framework in both the United States and Honduras. The chapter 3 examines remittances and access to financial services as well as financial inclusion strategies by financial institutions. The chapter four analyzes the development impact of remittances in rural Honduras through transnational economy, networks and diaspora engagement. These analyses of the U.S.-Honduras remittance corridor have led to a set of policy recommendations for the authorities of Honduras and the United States. Regulatory reforms in the remittance markets are urgently recommended in order to promote the integrity and efficiency of money transfer businesses. The report also recommends the development of financial infrastructures in rural areas for better distributions of remittances. It is recommended that public policy be directed to building an environment for diaspora's investments in the community and local business for exports to Honduran communities abroad.

Remittances remain a key source of funds for developing countries, far exceeding official development assistance and even foreign direct investment. Remittances have proved to be more stable than private debt and portfolio equity flows, and less volatile than official aid flows, and their annual flow can match or surpass foreign exchange reserves in many small countries. Even in large emerging markets, such as India, remittances are equivalent to at least a quarter of total foreign exchange reserves. India, China, Philippines and Mexico are the top recipients of migrant remittances. The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 attempts to present numbers and facts behind the stories of international migration and remittances, drawing on authoritative, publicly available data. It provides a snapshot of statistics on immigration, emigration, skilled emigration, and remittance flows for 210 countries and 15 regional and income groups. The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 updates the 2011 edition of the Factbook with additional data on bilateral migration and remittances and second generation diasporas, collected from various sources, including national censuses, labor force surveys, population registers, and other national sources.

International migration, the movement of people across international boundaries to improve economic opportunity, has enormous implications for growth and welfare in both origin and destination countries. An important benefit to developing countries is the receipt of remittances or transfers from income earned by overseas emigrants. Official data show that development countries' remittance receipts totaled 160 billion in 2004, more than twice the size of official aid. This year's edition of Global Economic Prospects focuses on remittances and migration. The bulk of the book covers remittances.

This study gives an overview of the intermediation of worker remittance flows from the United States to Guatemala. In contrast to other remittance corridors in the world, most transfers in this corridor are channeled in the United States through the formal sector, and distributed in Guatemala through the banking system. However, both senders and receivers have little access to financial products and services. This study argues that in a country characterized by high income inequality and low and concentrated access to credit, the large role played by domestic banks in distributing remittances seems promising in terms of creating a point of contact that could lead to cross-sales of other financial services. The report also argues that authorities have an important coordination and catalytic role to play, for increased efficiency in remittance intermediation, fostering competition, and ultimately highlighting the potential for greater access. The report concludes with specific avenues for further policy action in terms of transparency, regulatory environment, financial literacy and access, risk

The book offers new concepts and theory for the study of international migration by weaving together diverse strands of arguments related to international migration in ways not attempted before. Throughout the chapters, the book brings together original and cross-disciplinary theoretical explorations and original case studies. It also provides a rather global coverage of the phenomena under study, covering migrant destinations in Europe, the United States and Asia, and migrant sending regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Remittances sent by African migrants have become an important source of external finance for countries in the Sub-Saharan African region. In many African countries, these flows are larger than foreign direct investment and portfolio debt and equity flows. In some cases, they are similar in size to official aid from multilateral and bilateral donors. Remittance markets in Africa, however, remain less developed than other regions. The share of informal or unrecorded remittances is among the highest for Sub-Saharan African countries. Remittance costs tend to be significantly higher in Africa both for sending remittances from outside the region and for within-Africa (South-South) remittance corridors. At the same time, the remittance landscape in Africa is rapidly changing with the introduction of new remittance technologies, in particular mobile money transfers and branchless banking. This book presents findings of surveys of remittance service providers conducted in eight Sub-Saharan African countries and in three key destination countries. It looks at issues relating to costs, competition, innovation and regulation, and discusses policy options for leveraging remittances for development in Africa.