Personal remittances fall 1.4% to $2.76B in August

Personal remittances dropped 1.4 percent in August, reflecting a decline in money transfers Middle Eastern countries.

Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday showed personal remittances—in cash or in-kind—fell to $2.760 billion in August.

Cash remittances, on the other hand, recorded a 0.9-percent drop to $2.476 billion.

"The countries that contributed to the decline in August 2018 were the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Qatar,” the BSP said in a statement.

Michael Ricafort, economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), expects remittances to pick up again in October.

“The markets are also anticipating for the seasonal increase in the conversion of OFW remittances to pesos in Q4 for tuition payments for the new school semester, and for Christmas-related spending,” Ricafort told GMA News Online.

In the year-to-date, personal remittances reached $21.223 billion and cash remittances totaled $19.057 billion.

“By country source, more than 79 percent of the total cash remittances for the first eight months of 2018 came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong,” the BSP said. —VDS, GMA News