Nguyen Hoang Minh, SBV deputy director of the HCMC Branch, said remittances are “an important source of foreign exchange, helping to stabilize the exchange rate between the US dollar and Vietnam dong.”

In the first two months of the year, Minh said the SBV figures show remittance flows by Overseas Vietnamese back to their home city are around US$900 million, which far exceed last year’s same two-month period.

Minh attributed the increase to the peak remittance season – the Lunar New Year – falling in early February this year.