HO CHI MINH CITY, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City received overseas remittances of 2 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months of this year, higher than the figure in the same period last year.

Most of the remittances were poured into production and business, instead of real estates, stocks or savings as previously, the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the State Bank of Vietnam, said Thursday.

Vietnam received approximately 13.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up 16 percent on-year, ranking the 8th in the world, according to the World Bank's Migration and Remittances.

Up to 60 percent of the remittances to Vietnam last year came from the United States, while Europe accounted for nearly 20 percent of the sum.

Ho Chi Minh City remained the biggest recipient of remittances in Vietnam, with the inflows of 5.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up 4.5 percent against 2016.

Vietnam's high numbers of overseas Vietnamese residing in foreign countries and people working abroad as guest workers, and its macroeconomic stability, flexible monetary policies and improved business environment are mainly attributed to stable flows of remittances to the country, although the central bank has imposed the interest rate of zero percent on deposits in U.S. dollar, according to local experts.?