Overseas Filipinos' remittances dropped in August —BSP

Remittances from Filipinos abroad saw a decline in August amid the challenging overseas labor environment brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported Tuesday.

Data released by the BSP show personal remittances -- the sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind through informal channels -- dropped by 4.2% to $2.756 billion from $2.875 billion in August 2019.

Personal remittances in August brought the year-to-date figures to $21.414 billion, down 2.6% from $2.995 billion in the same period last year.

The BSP attributed the decline in personal remittances to the reduction of money sent home by both land-based and sea-based workers.

Remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year dropped 4.6% to $2.118 billion in August from $2.221 billion last year.

Likewise, remittances from sea-based workers and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year fell by 2.2% to $580 million from $593 million year-on-year.

Meanwhile, cash remittances —money transfers coursed through banks — dipped 4.1% to $2.493 billion in August from $2.589 billion in the same comparable period.

For January to August, cash remittances stood at $19.285 billion, down 2.6% from $19.808 billion last year.

“This was due to the decline in remittances from both land-based and sea-based workers, which fell by 1.9% to $15.183 billion from $15.476 billion and 5.3% to $4.101 billion from  $4.332 billion,” the BSP said.

By country source, the decline in remittances in August 2020 compared to the level in the same month last year was noted from Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the central bank.

“These were partly offset by observed remittance growth from the United States, Singapore, and Malaysia,” it said.

In terms of cumulative share, receipts from the US registered the highest share to total cash remittances year-to-date at 40.2% followed by Singapore, the United Kingdom, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Qatar.

The combined remittances from the top 10 countries accounted for 78.9% of total cash remittances. —LBG, GMA News