El Salvador

Salvadorans living abroad sent home a record USD 3.8 billion last year, an increase of 2.5 percent despite the global economic turmoil. El Salvador's central bank said the remittances figure increased by USD 92 million. The central bank attributes the rise in part to the renewal of temporary US work permits granted to Salvadorans after a series of earthquakes in 2001. The permits apply to about 10 percent of the 2.5 million Salvadorans living in the US. The increase contrasts with a dramatic drop in the amount of money Mexican migrants are sending home. (AP)