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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Remittances grew 2% to $2.26b in November

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Money sent home by Filipinos working overseas increased 2 percent in November 2017 to $2.262 billion from $2.217 billion a year ago, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said Monday.

The figure brought cash remittances in the first 11 months of 2017 to $25.318 billion, up 4 percent from $24.341 billion a year earlier. The 4-percent expansion in the 11-month period matched the 4-percent growth earlier predicted for the year by the Bangko Sentral.

Espenilla said the top countries that contributed to the growth in cash remittances in November were the United States and Germany.

Cash remittances from both land-based and sea-based workers recorded increases of 3.7 percent and 5.1 percent, in January to November, respectively.

The bulk of cash remittances in the 11-month period came from the United States, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Kuwait, Germany and Hong Kong. Combined remittances from these countries accounted for 80.2 percent of total cash remittances.

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Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also grew 3.2 percent in November 2017 to $2.526 billion from $2.448 billion in the same month in 2016.. This brought personal remittances in the first 11 months to $28.242 billion, up 5.1 percent from $26.883 billion a year ago.

“The growth in personal remittances for January to November was supported by the sustained expansion of remittances from land-based overseas Filipinos with work contracts of one year or more [3.7 percent] as well as those from sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year [5.1 percent],” Espenilla said.

Remittances, together with business process outsourcing receipts, account for around $50 billion in annual inflows, and were the steady sources of the country’s strong external payments position.

Cash remittances hit a record $26.9 billion in 2016, or 5 percent higher than ta year ago. It accounted for around 10 percent of gross domestic product.

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