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Friday, March 29, 2024

Remittances grew 3.3% to $29.38b in 11 months

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Cash remittances grew 5.7 percent in November to $2.64 billion from $2.50 billion a year ago, on sustained deployment of Filipino workers overseas amid the improving global economic environment, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show.

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

This brought cash remittances in the first 11 months of 2022 to $29.38 billion, or 3.3 percent higher than $28.43 billion registered in the same period in 2021.

Remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Qatar contributed largely to the increase in 11-month remittances. The US was the largest source of remittances, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also went up by 5.8 percent in November 2022 to $2.93 billion from $2.77 billion a year earlier.

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“The increase in personal remittances in November 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 in the 11-month period increased 3.4 percent to $32.65 billion from $31.59 billion in the same period in 2021.

Studies showed that the Philippines was the fourth largest recipient of remittances in the world after India, China and Mexico.

The country is among the biggest suppliers of nurses around the world, accounting for at least 20 percent of the total globally. The Philippines is also the biggest supplier of seafarers worldwide, accounting for about 20 percent to 25 percent of the total.

The deployment of OFWs has become more diversified over the years to include more territories outside the traditionally biggest host countries.

Remittances, which account for about a tenth of the gross national income, support major segments of the economy, including banking, transportation, real estate, healthcare, education and retail sectors.

They also support the country’s balance of payments, gross international reserves and the value of the peso.

Cash remittances hit a record $31.418 billion in 2022, up 5.1 percent from the $29.903 billion in 2021. The expansion missed the 6-percent growth target for the year, but it was a significant improvement from the 0.8-percent contraction in 2020 that was due mainly to the pandemic.

The BSP projected remittances to grow by 4 percent.

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