Barclays sees drop in Dec remittances

MANILA, Philippines - Cash remittances into the Philippines likely eased further in December last year due to a high base in the same period in 2013, UK-based investment bank Barclays said in a report.

The bank, in its latest Emerging Markets Weekly report, estimated remittances to have inched up 1.9 percent in December from the same month in 2013, even slower than the two percent rate in November which was already the slowest in nearly six years.

 “We expect remittances to recover sequentially from weakness in November, but a high base following 2013’s typhoon-related surge in remittances will likely weigh on year-on-year growth,” Barclays said.

Cash remittances in December 2013 climbed 10 percent to $2.173 billion, owed to the seasonal surge in inflows from Filipinos abroad and to families sending to their loved ones hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Official December 2014 remittances data will be released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Monday.

Latest available data showed money sent home by Filipinos living and working abroad amounted to $2.122 billion in November, bringing the 11-month tally to $21.911 billion.

Bulk of these remittances were sent from the United States, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and Canada.

The central bank has said the continuous deployment of skilled Filipino workers abroad sustained the increase in remittance flows during the period.

The BSP forecast cash remittances to have grown 5.5 percent in 2014 from the $22.968 billion recorded in 2013.

Remittances support domestic consumption, the largest driver of the Philippine economy. In 2013, remittances made up more than eight percent of the country’s gross domestic product.