HO CHI MINH CITY, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City received overseas remittances of 2.9 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of this year, posting a year-on-year increase of 20 percent.

Most of the remittances came from the United States and European countries, and a large part of the money 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, the country's central bank, said Tuesday.

Vietnam received approximately 13.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up 16 percent against 2016, ranking the 8th in the world, according to the World Bank's Migration and Remittances.

Ho Chi Minh City remained the biggest recipient of remittances in Vietnam, with the inflows of 5.2 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 4.5 percent. Remittances to the city have annually increased by 8-10 percent in recent years.

Although the central bank has imposed the interest rate of zero percent on deposits in U.S. dollar, there has been stable flows of remittances to the country, which is mainly attributed to 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, according to local experts.