Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said remittances from migrant Filipino workers in the Middle East may suffer due to regional tensions but this may be temporary.
“As for overseas Filipino remittances, we may see some temporary setback because of logistical difficulties and deployment may slow,” Tetangco said in a text message Tuesday.
“But based on experiences from past regional conflicts, our overseas workers are able to find ways of sending back money to their families here and also work in other areas that maybe safer from conflict,” Tetangco said.
The peso, meanwhile, returned to the 46-a-dollar level Tuesday, gaining P0.23 to close at 46.89 from 47.12 Monday, as Asian currencies strengthened after the yuan was fixed higher by the Chinese central bank.
It was the local currency’s strongest level in more than one month, or since the 46.97 on Nov. 25, 2015. Total volume traded stood at $768.6 million, significantly higher than the $459.5 million a day ago.
“The peso simply tracked the move of Asian currencies, which were all stronger for the day,” Nicholas Antonio Mapa, research officer of the Bank of the Philippine Islands, said in an e-mailed message.
“Asian currencies appreciated after seeing the Chinese yuan fixed higher by the cental bank, signaling that the PBOC would want to keep the CNY stable,” Mapa said. Mapa said this move prompted dealers to book gains in long-US dollar positions, a “semi risk-on scenario.”
Tetangco, meanwhile, downplayed the possible impact of the tensions on the prices of oil in the global markets because supply continued to be more than enough.
“Analysts’ initial assessment is that the impact of the tensions on international oil prices at this time would be limited because the oil markets remain oversupplied,” Tetangco said.
Remittances fuel private consumption and one of the backbones of
economic growth. Cash remittances in 2015 posted a record-high $24.308 billion, 5.8-percent higher than $22.968 billion in 2013.
It also accounted for 8.5 percent of the gross domestic product in 2014.
Latest Bangko Sentral data showed that growth of cash remittances by
migrant Filipino workers in October was almost flat at 0.2 percent to $2.232
billion from $2.228 billion a year ago.
The figure brought cash remittances in the first 10 months to $20.640 billion, or 3.7 percent higher than $19.910 billion a year ago.
Cash remittances from land-based and sea-based workers grew 3.9 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. The bulk of cash remittances came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Hong Kong, the bank regulator said.