The computation of structural primary balances for the nine main Latin American countries and their comparison of their changes with their cyclical position during the period 1981-2004 confirms that fiscal policy is procyclical in the region. From this evidence, the paper shows strong evidence...

A remarkable fact of the mushrooming remittances market is the absence of commercial banks as relevant players. Furthermore, remittances have been identified as a potential catalyst for the financial deepening of receiving countries through higher access to banking services by migrants'...