MANILA, Philippines — Remittances from Filipinos abroad declined to a five-month low in September due to the repatriation of undocumented Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia as well as the decision of global correspondent banks to shut down more money service facilities.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday personal remittances contracted seven percent to $2.44 billion in September, the lowest since April when it reached $2.32 billion. This was the biggest monthly contraction for personal remittances, exceeding the 6.2 percent decline in November 2014.
For the first nine months, personal remittances, which measures cash and non-cash items that flow through both formal or via electronic wire and informal channels such as money or goods carried across borders, went up 4.8 percent to $23.16 billion from $22.11 billion in the same period last year.
The central bank also reported cash remittances coursed through banks fell 8.3 percent to $2.19 billion in September, the biggest decline since contracting 10.9 percent in April 2003 and the lowest level since April when it amounted to $2.08 billion.
Saudi Arabia led the list of countries which registered the biggest drop in cash remittances in September as a result of the continued repatriation of Filipino workers under the Saudi Arabian amnesty program that started last March.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said a total of 8,467 undocumented Filipinos have availed of the amnesty program.
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