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Saturday, August 17, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 305
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OFW REMITTANCES SLOWING
MANILA’S ‘RISKY’ TAG PULLS DOWN FRIENDLY RANKING TO JUST NO. 10 By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
ALDAR DARMAEV VIA DREAMSTIME.COM
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By Cai U. Ordinario
HE growth of cash remittances sent by Filipinos working abroad slowed to 2.5 percent in June 2024, according to the latest data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The tepid growth was framed by a veteran analyst of remittance data as an indication that OFWs’ host countries “still feel the pinch of higher costs of prices.”
The data showed this was the slowest growth rate in cash remittances since March when the growth was also at 2.5 percent. Prior to March, the June 2024 figure was the slowest since the 2.1 percent posted in June 2023. In the first semester of 2024, BSP data showed cash remittances grew 2.9 percent. This was the same rate posted in the January to June 2023 period. “The situation means that Filipinos should understand that countries still feel the pinch of higher costs of prices,” Institute for Migration and Development Issues (IMDI) Executive Director Jeremaiah M. Opiniano told the BusinessMirror.
“Filipinos overseas are also trying to make their ends meet abroad while not forgetting their family-remitting duties at home,” Opiniano added.
Overseas Pinoys impacted
OPINIANO noted that inflation pressures in countries like the United States affect the ability of Filipinos overseas to send remittances back to their families in the Philippines. He noted that except for June 2024, remittances from the US in the past six months posted slowdowns. This is despite the depreciation of the Philippine peso versus the US dollar.
ANILA has the bipolar distinction of being not just among the riskiest places for tourists, but also being among the friendliest cities in Asia. In a news statement, online language course provider Preply ranked Manila as 10th among its friendliest cities in Asia, with a rating of “3/5 for friendliness to foreigners.” The data it collected from several research firms, travel lists, and language companies websites also showed that “Manila boasts a high visitor return rate at 16 percent, a visitor acceptance of 159 out of 200, and an acceptance of diversity score at 57/100. [The city likewise] has the highest English language proficien-
cy of all Asian cities, at 578.” Manila’s friendly ranking follows Taipei, Singapore, Delhi, Seoul, Chennai (India), Bangkok, Hanoi, Mumbai, and Busan. A closer look at the metrics gathered by Preply showed that while Manila is almost on a par with most Asian cities in terms of visitor return rate (16 percent), visitor acceptance (159 out of 200 points), acceptance of diversity (57 out of 100), and friendliness to foreigners (3 out of 5), the city scored the very last in the safety index, with just 35.42 out of 100 points, and came in behind Delhi with a score of 41.01. Last month, Forbes Advisor ranked Manila among the most risky tourist sites in the world, with a score of 91.49 out of 100, due to its high levels of crime risk, personal security risk, health security risk, infrastructure security risk, and digital security risk. (See, “Manila listed among riskiest tourist sites,” in the BusinessMirror, July 17, 2024.) After meeting with members of the tourism economic cluster on August 13 in Malacañang Palace, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on his Facebook page, “In tourism, we will continue to increase direct flights, ensuring our top destinations are more accessible and our guests are welcomed with world-class healthcare and security.” In that meeting, the Department of Tourism presented strategies to revitalize the tourism sector, but no further details were released by Malacañang about it. Continued on A2 Continued on A2
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BSP easing cycle seen as Gov says another rate cut possible
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HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) may have entered its easing cycle as additional rate cuts could be on the horizon after yesterday’s monetary policy action, which reduced interest rates for the first time in four years. In an interview on Friday, BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. was asked whether the Monetary Board has entered its easing cycle, and he said another rate cut will be possible this year. Nonetheless, the monetary authorities will continue monitoring the situation. Remolona, on Thursday, told reporters that the Monetary Board will make another 25-basis-point reduction in policy rates either in its October or December meeting this year.
“The relevant policy horizon is 2025 because our monetary policy transmission mechanism has long lags. So we cut yesterday, we might cut again sometime during the year and then we hope that has a significant effect on growth,” Remolona said. Remolona also noted that inflation has been “behaved” and remained within their expectations. He said the 4.4-percent inflation posted in July was within BSP’s expectations for the month. The BSP Governor also said the inflation rate in July was driven mainly by base effects amounting to 0.3 percentage points. Remolona said without the base effect, the inflation would only be 4.1 percent. Based on data from the Phil-
BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. on rate cuts and economic growth: “We cut yesterday, we might cut again sometime during the year, and then we hope that has a significant effect on growth.”
ippine Statistics Authority (PSA), inflation was at 4.7 percent in July 2023. The average inflation rate was 6 percent for the whole of 2023. “Our inflation numbers have been well behaved in the sense that they’ve been consistent with our projections,” Remolona said. “We’re happy with the inflation numbers. They seem to track, our models seem to track them very well.” In terms of risks, Remolona said, the BSP expects these to only have a minimal impact on inflation. One of these risks is oil inflation. While it is true that the Philippines remained a net oil importer, Continued on A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.0360 n JAPAN 0.3820 n UK 73.3255 n HK 7.3162 n CHINA 7.9488 n SINGAPORE 43.1437 n AUSTRALIA 37.7008 n EU 62.5913 n KOREA 0.0418 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.1995 Source: BSP (August 16, 2024)