Remittances to Mexico spike after November election

Remittances to Mexico saw the biggest spike in more than a decade during the month that President-elect Donald Trump was elected, Reuters reported Monday.

Mexican citizens in the U.S. sent home nearly $2.4 billion in transfers in November, which is a nearly 25 percent increase from the previous year, according to Mexican central bank data released Monday.

Total remittances are projected to reach a record $27 billion in 2016, which is $2 billion more than the previous year. Mexicans sent a total of $24.8 billion in remittances in 2015, overtaking oil income as a source of revenue for the country.

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The jump could be a reaction to Trump’s stunning victory, as the businessman has threatened to block the transfers and has made building a wall on the border with Mexico a centerpiece of his campaign.

Trump has not specified how Mexico would pay for the wall, but he previously suggested his government would impound remittances.

The money that immigrants send to relatives abroad is an important source of income for many families in Mexico, where around half the population lives in poverty, according to Reuters.

Agustin Carstens, Mexico’s central bank governor, pointed to a weak exchange rate, more U.S. jobs and concerns over Trump’s policies as potential reasons why transfers have increased.

Goldman Sachs economist Alberto Ramos said in a client note that the weak peso and workers who may be “strategically front-loading” transfers to avoid potential future taxes or restrictions may be fueling the remittance surge, according to Reuters.