Remittances hit lowest level in 5 months

Cash sent home by Filipinos abroad in July declined compared with year-ago level, hitting its lowest in five months, as deployment to jobs overseas dropped, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed.

Remittances at the start of the first half reached $2.131 billion, the lowest monthly total since February’s $2.098 billion.

The July figure was also 5.4 percent lower than the $2.253 billion recorded a year ago.

The total cash remittances coursed through banks during the first seven months rose 3 percent to $15.323 billion from $14.874 billion last year.

“In particular, cash remittances from land-based and sea-based workers totaled $12.1 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said in a statement.

Four-fifths of the end-July remittances came from Filipinos living or working in Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States, Tetangco added.

The BSP chief noted that “remittance inflows for the first seven months of 2016 remained stable despite the decline in deployment of skilled Filipino workers.”

Citing a preliminary Philippine Overseas Employment Administration report, the BSP said the number of newly hired land-based Filipino workers declined by a tenth year-on-year to 235,895 during the first seven months of the year, while the number of new sea-based employees slid 44.4 percent to 134,360.

Last year, cash remittances grew by 4.6 percent to $25.8 billion, exceeding the 4-percent growth target, although slower than the 7.2-percent year-on-year expansion posted in 2014.

For 2016, the BSP is projecting a 4-percent increase in foreign exchange remittances.