Remittances Smaller Than Financial Flows For Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand

Kuala Lumpur, 09 Rajab 1437/15 April 2016 (MINA)  –  Remittances are generally smaller than financial flows for Indonesa, Malaysia and Thailand, but are key for the Philippines’ economy, the Standard Chartered said.

It said Malaysia’s remittances amounted to about 20 per cent of the goods balance from the third quarter in 2014 to the second quarter last year.

“Malaysia’s remittances are slightly larger than services flows but are smaller than the goods balance. It is also generally smaller than financial flows.

“Indonesia’s remittances make up the bulk of its secondary income but are typically smaller than the other major items in the current account while Thailand’s remittances made up only about a quarter of its secondary income,” the bank said in its “ASEAN – Mapping seasonality” report.

For the Philippines, however, remittances were key as they made up the bulk of the country’s secondary income and were larger than the other major items such as goods, services and primary income in the current account, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) reported, quoting Bernama.

On seasonality, Standard Chartered was seeing a clear pattern in the Philippines as remittance inflows tend to increase meaningfully in the fourth quarter of each year.

For Indonesia, remittance inflows are now stronger in the first half of every year while for Thailand, remittance inflows tend to be higher in the third and fourth quarters.

“Malaysia’s weak seasonal pattern suggests that remittance outflows tend to be at their highest in the fourth quarter,” it said.   (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)