Bank reports slump in remittances

ACLEDA counts 25 percent drop in trade transactions over first half of year compared with 2008, but expects an uptick before the end of the year after flows showed signs of recovery in June

Cross-border money remittances through ACLEDA Bank dropped 24.6 percent year on year in the first half from US$727.34 million to $547.83 million, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer So Phonnary said.

The fall was due largely to exports and imports, she said.

"The major decline was due to the drop in garment exports, so money transferred into the country was down," she said. "Because demand for imports of automobiles, machinery and goods and commodities into Cambodia also dropped, the amount of money transferred out of Cambodia was also down."

Outgoing remittances fell 16.4 percent to $284.29 million, and inbound remittances dropped 31.8 percent to $263.54 million.

Even as total remittances fell, the number of transactions increased by roughly 1,500 to 28,000. "Due to the crisis, cross-border trades became smaller in size," So Phonnary said.

So Phonnary said the most severe drop was in January when $39.7 million was transferred out of the country and $40 million in. By June, outbound remittances through ACLEDA had rose again to $54 million, and money coming into the country had increased to $42 million.

"Based on these figures, we expect business activities are going up in the second half of this year, but it's a slow recovery," she said.

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