Macroeconomic effects of remittances in Mexican economy and in the State of Chiapas

Abstract

This paper intends to show that in Mexico, the neoliberal economic model and the economic policy accompanying it are incapable of incorporating familial remittances from abroad as an element of a virtuous circle of growth, which along with oil revenues, could finance a productive restructuring to meet the needs of the nation. In the first part, the present criteria regarding the total of remittances and their calculation are explored as well as the inconsistencies of the Bank of Mexico in regard to this matter. In the second part, the impact of remittances on the Mexican balance of payments is analyzed, clarifying the role they play in the applied economic model and the challenges that represent for the economic policy. The third part presents some of the consequences of the flow of remittances to the State of Chiapas, which has recently joined the flow of emigration from Mexico to the U.S.