The Philippine government sees a minimum impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on remittances from overseas Filipinos.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the government adjusted the remittance target this 2020 to $34.2 billion or an increase by 2.2% from the previously projected $34.5 billion or 3% growth rate.
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Nograles was quoted by GMA News saying that overseas Filipino remittances will breach another record high this year.
“We are encouraged by historical data that shows that Philippine remittances have been resilient even in the face of global downtrends,” he said.
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He stressed that the government remains optimistic as remittances coming from other countries such as United States, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia may help compensate the slowdown in remittances from virus affected China, Hong Kong and Macau.
“In terms of remittances, keep in mind that mainland China accounts for only 0.1% of total OFW remittances, while Macau and Hong Kong account for 0.4%, and 2.7%, respectively,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government maintained its target economic growth for 2020 at 6.5% – 7.5%.
