SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
MANILA, Philippines– Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) continued to rise in May 2018, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Monday, July 16.
Personal remittances from OFWs reached $2.7 billion in May 2018, up 6.1% from the same month last year. The figure is also slightly higher than the $2.6 billion registered in April 2018.
OFWs were able to send a total of $13.2 billion from January to May, 4.4% higher year-on-year. Land-based OFWs with work contracts of one year or more were able to send a total of $10.2 billion, while sea-based and land-based workers with short-term contracts contributed $2.7 billion.
Similarly, cash remittances coursed through banks rose by 6.9% to $2.5 billion in May. Cash remittances sent by land-based workers ($1.9 billion) and sea-based workers ($0.5 billion) grew by 5.3% and 13.2%, respectively.
Most of the cash came from OFWs in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.
On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances have registered a 4.2% increase to reach $11.8 billion.
Cash remittances from the US, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, UK, Japan, Qatar, Hong Kong, Germany, and Kuwait accounted for about 78% of total cash remittances sent through banks.
OFW remittances reached an all-time high of $31.29 billion in 2017, 5.3% higher than the $29.7 billion recorded in 2016 and beating the 4% projection of the central bank.
Remittances help fund the widening current account deficit of the country and serve as a buffer from external shocks. – Rappler.com
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.