OFW cash remittances rise 7.7% in June

Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos rose 7.7% to $2.465 billion in June 2020 compared to the same month in 2019, recovering after three months of decline.

This growth was mainly driven by a 14.2% increase in remittances from land-based workers, as lockdown restrictions eased.

However, remittances from sea-based workers continued to fall by 13.1% in June, largely due to COVID-19 related repatriations.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno stated that inflows from sea-based OFWs may remain weak as the pandemic continues.

Despite the June increase, year-to-date cash remittances for the first half of 2020 declined by 4.2% to $14.079 billion.

Governor Diokno noted that this 4.2% year-to-date slippage is a positive development, deviating from grim forecasts of a 20% or higher plunge.

The BSP projects a 5% drop in cash remittances for the entire year, while the Asian Development Bank has a worst-case scenario projection of a 20.2% plunge.