Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos down 0.9% in August

An employee at a currency exchange kiosk in Manila counts Philippine pesos exchanged for US dollars. ABS-CBN NEWS

MANILA – Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos reached $2.5 billion in August, lower by 0.9 percent compared to the same month last year, the central bank said Monday.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the countries that contributed to the decline in August 2018 were the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

This was the third time this year that cash remittances declined, year-on-year. Personal remittances were also down 1.4 percent in August.

The BSP noted, however, that from January to August 2018, cash remittances were still higher by 2.5 percent at $19.1 billion compared to the same period last year.

Personal remittances meanwhile increased by 2.4 percent year-on-year to reach $21.2 billion in the first eight months of 2018.

More than 79 percent of the total cash remittances for the first eight months of 2018 came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong, the BSP said.

The Philippines is one of the world’s largest recipients of remittances, with millions of Filipinos working overseas sending home money that helps power domestic consumption, a key driver of economic growth. (ABS-CBN News)

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