Guatemala, Jul 6 (Prensa Latina) The Guatemalan economy will receive almost three billion dollars in family remittances, predicted economist Julio Garcia Motta, who said that family remittances help to cover a good part of the country's commercial deficit.


The specialist from Guatemalan enterprise Consultores para el Desarrollo S. A. (COPADES), pointed out that the Guatemalan commercial deficit is 4.5 billion dollars including the maquilas added value.



Motta told Prensa Latina the émigrés rotation was high, so family remittances are still on the rise, involving to the same extent those who left the country as those who travel temporarily and then return to Guatemala with a little capital.



Data from the Guatemalan Central Bank (BANGUAT) indicated this Central American nation received 2.551 billion dollars in family remittances from abroad, basically in US.



This represents a progressive increase compared to preceding years, especially in 2003, when 2.107 billion dollars were received, and Motta believes not all the money comes from family remittances as there are fluxes, suggesting different origins.



This reinforces recent accusations that drug-trafficking, money laundering and other illegal activities are progressively increasing.



Guatemala has 11.2 million inhabitants, of whom 1.2 live in the US, 60 percent of them without identity documents.