BSP data shows weak dollar remittance growth in last two months

The amount of dollars sent home by expatriate Filipinos rose further in the first nine months of the year, but data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also showed a continuation of flat growth trend in recent months for remittances, a key leg of the country’s economy.

In a statement, BSP Deputy Govenor Cyd Tuaño-Amador said personal remittances from overseas Filipinos increased by 2.4 percent year-on-year to reach $23.7 billion in the first nine months of 2018.

The central bank’s data revealed monthly rise in cumulative amounts of remittances this year have been moderating, compared to monthly data for the same periods last year.

Personal remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more grew by 2.2 percent to $16.3 billion.

Similarly, the growth in personal remittances was complemented by remittances from sea- and land-based workers with contracts of less than one year, which rose by 3.5 percent year-on-year. In September 2018, personal remittances rose to $2.5 billion, 2 percent higher than the September 2017 level.

Personal remittances represent the sum of net compensation of employees, personal transfers, and capital transfers between households.

For January to September 2018, cash remittances — narrower data which covers only those funds remitted through the formal banking system — from overseas Filipinos recorded a 2.5 percent growth from the same period a year ago to reach $21.2 billion.

Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through banks increased by 2.3 percent year-on-year to $2.2 billion in September 2018. This brought cash remittances for the period January-September 2018 to $21.3 billion, 2.5 percent higher than the $20.8 billion recorded in the comparable period last year.

Over the nine-month period, cash remittances from both land-based ($16.8 billion) and sea-based ($4.5 billion) workers grew by 2.2 percent and 3.5 percent year-on-year, respectively.

By country source, more than 79 percent of the total cash remittances for the first nine months of 2018 came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the countries that contributed to the increase in remittances in September 2018 are Canada, the United States, and Taiwan.

Net compensation refers to gross earnings of overseas Filipino workers with work contracts of less than one year, including all sea-based workers, less taxes, social contributions, and transportation and travel expenditures in their host countries.

Personal transfers refer to all current transfers in cash or in kind by overseas Filipinos workers with work contracts of one year or more as well as other household-to-household transfers between Filipinos who have migrated abroad and their families in the Philippines.

Capital transfers between households refer to the provision of resources for capital purposes, such as for construction of residential houses, between resident and non-resident households without anything of economic value being supplied in return. /kga