PH travelers may now bring up to 50K: BSP

Frequent travelers to and from the Philippines no longer have to worry about overseas charges or having credit cards when they go outside the country as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), or the Central Bank of the Philippines, raised the bar for bringing cash last Friday, August 26.

 

NO NEED TO GO HERE if you’re bringing more than P10,000 in or out of the country. Image by Ramon F. Velasquez, grabbed from Wikimedia Commons

 

According to BSP Circular No. 922 series of 2016, “A person may import or export, or bring with him into or take out of the country, or electronically transfer, legal tender Philippine notes and coins, checks, money order and other bills of exchange drawn in pesos against banks operating in the Philippines in an amount not exceeding PHP50,000 without prior authorization from the BSP.”

FROM P10,000 to P50,000. Feel the need to spend overseas? You can now bring up to P50,000 without having to talk to BSP. Image of Circular No. 922 from BSP

 

The limit would also apply to electronic transfers, defined in the circular as “a system where the authority to debit or credit an account (bank, business or individual) is provided by wire, with or without a source document being mailed to evidence the authority.”

The circular, signed by BSP Officer-in-charge Vicente S. Aquino, also said that any amount in excess would require a prior written authorization from the BSP.

In addition, Philippine residents can also exchange up to $500,000 worth of foreign currency without the need for any supporting documents according to a report on news website ABS-CBN News.

 

Source: BSP Circular 922 series of 2016, Philippine Star Facebook page, ABS-CBN News