OFW remittances rise to $2.48B in Feb By Bianca Cuaresma
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@BcuaresmaBM
ILIPINO migrant workers were able to increase their remittances back home in February this year, as larger economies around the world start to recover and reopen. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Thursday that cash remittances to the Philippines hit a total of $2.48 billion in February. This is 5.1 percent more than the remittances sent to the country in February 2020 at $2.36 billion. Broken down, cash remittances from land-based workers in-
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creased by 7.8 percent to $1.982 billion, while that of sea-based workers decreased by 4.6 percent to $495 million. For the first two months of 2021, cash remittances amounted to $5.1 billion, rising by 1.5 percent from the $5 billion level in the same period last year. The BSP said the growth in cash remittances for the first two months of the year largely emanated from remittances of Filipinos based in the United States, Malaysia and Singapore. In particular, in terms of country sources, the US registered the highest share to overall remittances at 41 percent for the first two
months, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Qatar. The combined remittances from these top 10 countries accounted for 78.3 percent of total cash remittances during the period. ING Bank Economist Nicholas Mapa said the remittance growth during the month was an “upside surprise” from current market expectations. He also said this is expected to provide some support to the local currency in the near term. “Expectations for modest positive growth for Overseas Filipino
Friday, April 16, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 184
remittances will continue to be supportive of the Peso in the near term, especially with the economic recession weighing on corporate demand for the dollar,” Mapa said. “In 2021, we expect remittance flows to adequately cover the more modest trade deficit, a development that should help lend appreciation pressure to the Peso in the near term,” he added. R iza l Commercia l Bank ing Corp. (RCBC) economist Michael Ricafort, meanwhile, said that the future volume of remittances to the country will largely depend on further recovery of the major host countries’ economies.
LOPEZ PEGS TWO-WEEK n
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 18 pages |
ECQ LOSSES AT P180B Despite delays in construction and limitations caused by the pandemic, San Miguel Corp. President and COO Ramon S. Ang said work on the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT 7) is now more than halfway complete. He noted that around 51 percent of civil works are now completed, including installation of bored piles, girder, and foundational works on stations, while the laying of rails or tracks is ongoing. At least 55 percent of electrical/mechanical works also have been completed, he added. In photo, workers rush the laying of rails or tracks at the portion of MRT 7 project along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. NONOY LACZA
NEDA: TARIFF CUTS, MAV HIKE WON’T KILL LOCAL HOG INDUSTRY By Cai U. Ordinario
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@caiordinario
HE National Economic and Development Author it y (Neda) maintained on Thursday that the reduction in pork tariffs and the increase in the minimum access volume (MAV) will not “kill” the local hog industry. In a presentation at the Senate Committee of the Whole, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the temporary reduction in pork tariffs aims to reduce pork prices. Chua added that the increase in MAV will help augment pork supply. The MAV was increased to 404,000 metric tons from 54,000 metric tons, which is consistent with the supply deficit of pork carcass estimated by Neda at 477,000 metric tons this year. “The temporary increase in pork imports will not “kill” the local hog industry, as imports
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By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @TyronPiad
HE Philippine economy lost about P180 billion during the recent two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) amid the displacement of 1.5 million workers, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Thursday. See “Lopez,” A2
PESO exchange rates n US 48.5000
would potentially account for up to 22.8 percent of total consumption,” Chua said. “Also, as mentioned by some experts, imports will not flood our markets since ASF [African swine fever] has also affected hog production of many countries,” he added. Chua said temporarily reducing pork import tariffs to 5 to 10 percent will bring down the landed cost of pork to around P251 to P222 per kilo. This will translate to retail prices of P128 to P135 per kilo. This, he said, is significantly lower than the P252 to P267 per kilo landed cost if tariffs are kept at 30 to 40 percent. Chua said in March and April, the pork price ceiling was at P350 per kilo. The lower prices and the higher MAV would bring down inflation to around 3.8 percent, well within the Central Bank’s 2- to 4-percent inflation target this year. See “Neda,” A2
PHL among 69 places ‘closed’ by Covid By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
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ANT to travel without getting a vaccine shot, RT-PCR test, or quarantining on arrival?
These are the countries you can go to: Albania, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, North Macedonia and Tanzania. According to the latest report from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), these destinations
have lifted all Covid-19 restrictions on international travel. In general, however, “One in three destinations worldwide are now completely closed to international tourism,” said the UNWTO. “The emergence of new vari-
ants of the Covid-19 virus has prompted many governments to reverse efforts to ease restrictions on travel, with total closures to tourists most prevalent in Asia and the Pacific, and Europe.”
n japan 0.4453 n UK 66.8427 n HK 6.2454 n CHINA 7.4267 n singapore 36.3133 n australia 37.4469 n EU 58.1030 n SAUDI arabia 12.9330
See “PHL,” A2
Source: BSP (April 15, 2021)