Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos (OFs) rose by 2.4 percent to $2.86 billion in February 2023 from $2.79 billion recorded in the same month last year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
“The increase in personal remittances in February 2023 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 in a statement.
The expansion in February 2023 remittances increased the cumulative personal remittances to $5.93 billion in the first two months of 2023, which is 3.0 percent higher than the $5.76 billion in the comparable period in 2022.
Of the personal remittances from OFs, cash remittances coursed through banks rose by 2.4 percent to $2.57 billion in February 2023 from $2.51 billion in the comparable month a year ago. The expansion in cash remittances in February 2023 was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers.
On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances coursed through banks in January-February 2023 amounted to $5.33 billion, up by 3.0 percent from $5.18 billion recorded in the same period a year-ago.
The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Qatar contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in January – February 2023. Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances during the said period, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Japan.
CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE
