Dollar Shortage??

[scott h]

On 12/6/2020 at 6:36 PM, OnMyWay said:

he said there is a shortage in Luzon. 

OMW, this is a multi faceted problem. I read in the business section that due to the decreased demand, mall closures, not as many people driving so not buying fuel, major retailers reducing on the self inventories. The Phil has not had to "buy" dollars which they need to buy imported product. (thats another factor as to why the exchange rate has gone down. Hence the dollar shortage.

11 hours ago, RBM said:

I did read that October dollar remittances were an all time high. No idea but suspect the percentage of OFW whom have lost jobs would be single figures.

Keep in mind that remittances are not made only by OFWs. Million of Filipino immigrants also send millions of dollars home each year. In my extended family alone we have 2 australians and 21 americans sending cash home to relatives, 

[earthdome]

4 hours ago, scott h said:

OMW, this is a multi faceted problem. I read in the business section that due to the decreased demand, mall closures, not as many people driving so not buying fuel, major retailers reducing on the self inventories. The Phil has not had to "buy" dollars which they need to buy imported product. (thats another factor as to why the exchange rate has gone down. Hence the dollar shortage.

Keep in mind that remittances are not made only by OFWs. Million of Filipino immigrants also send millions of dollars home each year. In my extended family alone we have 2 australians and 21 americans sending cash home to relatives, 

I think the original post was regarding getting physical dollars, as in $100 bills. That has nothing to do with USD transferred electronically by OFW's or maintained in account balances by individuals or governments. I had to wait a few days once to get $100 bills from BPI prior to our vacation to Thailand 6 years ago. I always like to make sure I have sufficient cash when travelling, especially internationally, because you never know when those pieces of plastic will stop working.

[Shady]

On 12/7/2020 at 10:36 AM, OnMyWay said:

We have been trying to get some $ from BPI for a week, and they don't have any.

Just curious, what's the particular reason for needing USD?

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, Shady said:

Just curious, what's the particular reason for needing USD?

To exchange them outside the bank.

[OnMyWay]

9 hours ago, earthdome said:

I think the original post was regarding getting physical dollars, as in $100 bills. That has nothing to do with USD transferred electronically by OFW's or maintained in account balances by individuals or governments. I had to wait a few days once to get $100 bills from BPI prior to our vacation to Thailand 6 years ago. I always like to make sure I have sufficient cash when travelling, especially internationally, because you never know when those pieces of plastic will stop working.

You are right, my post was about getting physical dollars, but I think I was also thinking there are some links to electronic transfers. 

So, how do physical $ get into the Philippines?

Tourists and residents bring them

Central bank and other banks buy them with pesos?

For example, we get $ electronically via my kid's SS direct deposits to BPI.  There has to be a reserve of physical $ in the Philippines to support the electronic transfers?  Honestly, I have no idea how that all works.

[Gas]

3 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

To exchange them outside the bank.

The days of having to change from one currency to dollars then to another currency have thankfully gone, as it was a expensive process. 
I have managed to change philippine pesos in quite a few countries in the last 5 years without any problems. 

[OnMyWay]

2 minutes ago, Gas said:

The days of having to change from one currency to dollars then to another currency have thankfully gone, as it was a expensive process. 
I have managed to change philippine pesos in quite a few countries in the last 5 years without any problems. 

This is mainly to get a better exchange rate than BPI gives.  The changer we use is usually 20-30 centavos better than BPI, and we go there anyway, to go to the wet market.

[Old55]

29 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

This is mainly to get a better exchange rate than BPI gives.  The changer we use is usually 20-30 centavos better than BPI, and we go there anyway, to go to the wet market.

Don, you sound just like my mother in law (God bless her) getting the very best rate. It's like those drug deals in the movies.

[OnMyWay]

7 minutes ago, Old55 said:

Don, you sound just like my mother in law (God bless her) getting the very best rate. It's like those drug deals in the movies.

I never used to take $ out of BPI to exchange.  I used to wait for a good exchange rate and exchange a large amount that would last us for months.  Now we have a different scenario I won't get into, and it is worth it to withdraw the $ before exchanging.  We usually exchange $2000 and 20-30 centavos gets you 400-600 pesos more.  That is enough to pay for my eggs and fruits at the wet market, which is where the changer is.

[hk blues]

8 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

 We usually exchange $2000 and 20-30 centavos gets you 400-600 pesos more.  That is enough to pay for my eggs and fruits at the wet market, which is where the changer is.

Not an insignificant amount so your practice makes perfect sense.