The coronavirus disease outbreak could slash the Philippine government's projected remittance growth rate for this year, a Palace official said on Monday.

In a press briefing, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, citing the assumptions made by the Department of Labor and Employment ( DOLE), said total cash remittance growth projection for 2020 could decline by 0.8 percentage points.

"We expect that the COVID-19 outbreak could dampen our total cash remittance growth in 2020 by 0.8 percentage points, from 3.0 percent to 2.2 percent," he said.

Nograles, however, noted that remittances from mainland China account for only 0.1 percent of total remittances from overseas Filipino workers, while Macau and Hong Kong account for 0.4 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

The government has been implementing a travel ban to mainland China and its special administrative regions, such as Macau and Hong Kong, due to COVID-19.

Despite the projected cut on the remittance growth forecast, Nograles expressed belief the government could still hit record high total remittances for 2020.

"While remittances from OF reached a record high of $33.5 billion last 2019, we were expecting this to increase to $34.5 billion in remittances this year with a projected growth rate of three percent," he said.

"But because of this COVID-19 epidemic, we have adjusted our growth projections to 2.2 percent, and now expect $34.2 billion in remittances for 2020. Nevertheless, this shall still breach another record high in Overseas Filipino remittances," Nograles explained.

He said the DOLE has assured that remittances from other source countries, such as the United States, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia may help compensate for the possible slowdown in remittances coming from China, Macau, and Hong Kong.

"We are encouraged by historical data that shows that Philippine remittances have been resilient even in the face of global downtrends," he added.

Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, Nograles said that the economic managers expect its "minimal impact" in the agriculture sector, particularly exports.

He cited the case of banana exports to China, which "are not slowing down."

"While there were previous logistical issues during the Chinese Lunar New Year break, this was only a temporary setback, and our banana exports to China have returned to normal," Nograles said.

The COVID-19 originated in Wuhan City in Hubei province, China late last year. Celerina Monte/DMS