OFW remittances fall 5% in March

OFW remittances fell by 5% in March, marking the first decline due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas attributed this drop to labor cutbacks in Middle Eastern oil industries, which have repatriated thousands of Filipino workers.

Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos amounted to $2.65 billion in March 2020, down by 5.2% from the previous year's $2.8 billion.

The decline was partly due to fewer Filipinos being deployed overseas compared to the same period last year.

Countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait saw significant declines as oil prices dropped globally.