March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean are forecast to fall this year for the first time on record, as unemployment rises in wealthier nations, the Inter- American Development Bank said in a report.

Payments sent home from migrant workers may drop for the first time since records started in 2000, the IDB said in a statement today. In 2008, workers abroad sent about $69.2 billion to relatives and friends in Latin American and the Caribbean, up 0.9 percent on the previous year.

“While it is too early to project by how much remittances may decline in 2009, this is bad news for millions of people in our region who depend on these flows to make ends meet,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.

The result will be a greater reliance on social safety nets for the recipients of the weaker remittances, the IDB said.

“The world is facing its worst economic crisis in recent memory,” Moreno said. “Unemployment is rising in industrialized nations. The climate against immigration is becoming harsher. Even exchange rate fluctuations are playing a larger role than before.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Christopher Swann in Washington at cswann1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 16, 2009 17:14 EDT