Remittances to Philippines drop 2.8 pct in October

Personal remittances to the Philippines fell by 2.8 percent year-on-year to 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in October, the local central bank said Thursday.

Philippine central bank governor Amando Tetangco Jr. attributed the decline in remittances on the stiffer competition in the supply of seafarers, particularly from East Asia and East Europe.

"The lower U.S. dollar value of remittances in October may also be partly due to the depreciation of major host countries' currencies vis-a-vis the U.S. dollar, such as the pound sterling and the euro," he said.

The cash remittances, which is part of the personal remittances, amounted to 2.1 billion dollars in October, 3 percent lower than a year ago level.

The top countries that contributed to the decline in total cash remittances in October were Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Britain, Tetangco said.

Meanwhile, personal remittances from overseas Filipinos for the first 10 months of the year reached 24.4 billion dollars, equivalent to a 3.9-percent growth year-on-year.

Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through banks rose by 4.0 percent year-on-year in January to October to 22.1 billion dollars.

Cash remittances coming from the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Britain, Japan, Qatar, Kuwait and Germany comprise more than 80 percent of the total cash remittances to the Philippines in the first ten months of 2016. Endit