Remittances to pick up

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) sees cash remittances picking up in the last quarter of the year despite a drop in August.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the central bank is still confident of meeting the five percent growth target for remittances this year amid the slight setback in August.

He said Filipinos abroad are expected to send more money for their loved ones in the Philippines this quarter in preparation for the Christmas holidays.

 “I believe remittances will continue to be stable at around five percent for 2015. In the last quarter of the year, we expect renewed heavy inflows because of the holidays,” Guinigundo said.

The BSP has set a five percent growth target in the value of remittances from overseas Filipinos this year. Cash remittances went up 5.9 percent to $24.35 billion in 2014 from $22.98 billion in 2013, while personal remittances increased 6.3 percent to $26.97 billion from $25.37 billion.

For the first eight months, cash remittances climbed by only 4.1 percent to $16.21 billion compared to $15.57 billion in the same period last year.

Likewise, personal remittances inched up 3.9 percent to $17.93 billion in the first eight months from $17.27 billion in the same period last year.

This after cash remittances declined 0.6 percent to $2.04 billion in August from $2.06 billion last year due to the depreciation of the euro, Canadian dollar, and the Japanese yen against the dollar.

According to the BSP, the weakening of other currencies reduced the dollar equivalent of remittances sent from host countries.

Image by Philippine Star