MIGRANT REMITTANCES IN GREECE AND PORTUGAL - DISTRIBUTION BY COUNTRY OF PROVENANCE AND THE ROLE OF THE BANKING PRESENCE

The article examines migrant remittances per country of origin of remi ttances for two emigration countries, Greece and Portugal. It also exa mines the relationship between remittances and the number of banks of the emigration country in the host country. From the analysis it appea rs that remittances are concentrated in a small number of host countri es - the US and Germany for the Greek case; France (mainly) and the US , Germany and Switzerland for the Portuguese case. Remittances followe d similar trends, characterized by especially high growth during the 1 970s and also during the second half of the 1980s. For both countries similar trends are observed regarding the relationship between remitta nces and remittances per migrant with the presence of banks of the hom e country at the important countries of origin of remittances. The gro wth of the banking presence in host countries had a significant impact on the growth of migrant remittances. However, remittances and migran t population are neither the unique nor main reason for banking expans ion abroad. The common European financial and banking market is expect ed to play a major role in the banking presence abroad, particularly i n-European Union countries.