Philippine remittances seen declining this year

Filipino remittances are expected to decline this year due to job losses and economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

BSP Assistant Governor Iluminada Sicat estimates a contraction of 0.2 to 0.8 percentage point, while BPI predicts flat or negative growth of at least 5 percent.

The World Bank anticipates a 20-30 percent decline in remittances for 2020 and a corresponding growth rate of 2 percent due to the pandemic's impact.