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Friday, March 29, 2024

Remittances rose 3.5% to 3-month high of $2.9b in October, says BSP

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Remittances in October climbed to a three-month high of $2.911 billion, an increase of 3.5 percent from $2.812 billion a year ago, as inflows began to increase ahead of the holiday season.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that cash remittances in the first 10 months hit $26.736 billion, up 3.1 percent from $25.929 billion a year ago.

“The expansion in cash remittances in October 2022 was due to the growth in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers,” the BSP said in a statement.

“The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Qatar contributed largely to the increase in remittances in January to October 2022,” it said.

The US posted the highest share of overall remittances in the first ten months, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

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Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also went up 3.5 percent in October to a three-month high of $3.23 billion from $3.12 billion a year earlier.

“The increase in personal remittances in October 2022 was due to higher remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year,” the BSP said.

Cumulative personal remittances grew 3.1 percent in the 10-month period to $29.72 billion from $28.82 billion in the comparable months in 2021.

Studies showed that Philippine remittances were the fourth largest in the world after India, China and Mexico.

The Philippines is among the biggest suppliers of nurses around the world, accounting for at least 20 percent of the total globally. It is also the largest source of seafarers worldwide, accounting for about 20 percent to 25 percent of the global tally.

The deployment of OFWs has diversified in recent years to include more countries worldwide outside the traditional host countries.

Cash remittances hit a record $31.418 billion in 2021, up 5.1 percent from the $29.903 billion in 2020. The 5.1-percent expansion missed the 6-percent growth target for the year, but it was a significant improvement from the 0.8-percent contraction in 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

The BSP expects remittances to grow by 4 percent in 2022 amid the improving global business environment.

Remittances represent about a tenth of the gross national income in the Philippines and support the growth of household spending and investments. Sectors such as banking and finance, real estate, transportation, travel and tourism also rely on remittances as the main engine of growth.

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