MANILA: Philippine stocks tumbled on Monday as data showing a plunge in May remittances accelerated a sell-off initially fuelled by concerns over a lockdown extension in and around the capital.
The benchmark index fell as much as 4% to a two-month low, as the government reimposed coronavirus lockdown measures in Manila in response to fresh outbreaks and warnings from doctors and nurses of stressed healthcare facilities.
At the same time, remittances, which accounted for 9.3% of the country's gross domestic product in 2019, plunged 19.3% in May, stoking worries that the current account deficit may balloon and cause the peso to depreciate.
Remittances are a key source of foreign income for the country, and its current account is heavily dependent on them since it routinely posts trade deficit.
However, remittances across the world have fallen sharply due to coronavirus-led salary cuts and job losses.
"Remittances are not expected to recover anytime soon with the global economy likely in recession, adding more heat to an already precarious situation for Philippine domestic growth prospects," said Nicholas Mapa, ING's senior economist for the Philippines.
The peso, however, held steady in the face of the news, having risen along with other regional currencies in July on the back of broad global weakness of the US dollar. Singapore stocks slid nearly 2%.
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