Philippine Remittances See First Drop Since 2001

• Remittances shrank by just less than 1% in 2020 despite the displacement of close to half a million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) due to the global health crisis, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
• BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said personal remittances slipped by 0.8%, while cash remittances coursed through banks also contracted by 0.8% in 2020.
• This was way lower than the revised projection of a 2% contraction for 2020, but still ended 19 consecutive years of growth since 2001.
• He said personal remittances reached USD33.19bn in 2020 or USD273mn lower than the record level of USD33.47bn in 2019.
• The BSP chief pointed out that personal remittances accounted for 9.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 8.5% of gross national income (GNI) in 2020.
• Data showed the US still accounted for the biggest share at 39.9%, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, UK, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Hong Kong and South Korea.
• “These countries accounted for 78.6% of the total cash remittances,” Diokno said.
• For the month of Dec 20 alone, personal remittances declined by 0.3% y/y in Dec 20, while cash remittances slipped by 0.4% y/y.
• Despite the decline, both personal and cash remittances still booked its highest level since Dec 19.
• The BSP sees OFW remittances bouncing back with a 4% growth in 2021.

External Link : https://www.philstar.com/business/2021/02/16/2077966/remittances-resilient-shrink-just-below-1