Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the Philippine economy will not be significantly affected by the exit of Great Britain from the European Union because of the limited trade transactions between Manila and London.
“During this period, there maybe market reactions in terms of volatility. But in our case, the impact is not expected to be significant because we don’t have very large investment and trade transactions with the United Kingdom,” Tetangco told reporters over the weekend.
Tetangco said remittances, in general, would not be impacted if Filipinos working in the UK would not be able to send large amount of money to their relatives in the Philippines, adding that skilled Filipino workers remained in high demand elsewhere, not only in Europe but also in other continents.
“We will continue to monitor that, but what is affecting the foreign exchange market is what is happening in the monetary policy hikes, particularly in the US and the ECB [European Central Bank],” he said.
The US Federal Reserve increased interest rates last month, the third time since the 2008 global financial crisis, citing the improving employment condition and sustained recovery of the world’s largest economy.
Remittances continue to be one of the main pillars of the Philippine economic growth. In 2016, money sent home by OFWs grew 5 percent to a record $26.9 billion from $25.607 billion in 2015, driven mainly by the sustained demand for skilled workers abroad and improving global economic condition.