Increased Remittances of OFWs

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that personal remittances from Filipinos abroad increased by 6.2 percent to $12.7 billion in the first half of the year from $11.9 billion in the same period last year.

In a statement, Governor Amado Tetangco Jr. said the personal remittances for June of $2.3 billion was the highest on record so far. It was 7.0 percent more as compared with earlier figures. He said the prolonged growth in personal remittances in the first half of the year can be attributed to the higher amounts of money transfers from both land-based workers with long-term contracts (4.8 percent) and sea-based and land-based workers with short-term contracts (8.8percent).

For the first half of the year, cash remittances reached $11.4 billion, higher by 5.8 percent than the $10.8 billion recorded in the same period last year. Specifically, cash remittances from land-based workers grew by 4.8 percent to $8.7 billion in the first six months from a year earlier.

Cash remittances from sea-based workers increased by 8.8 percent to $2.7 billion in the comparable period.

The central bank said the bulk or 79 percent of cash remittances originated from the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Canada and Hong Kong.

 (Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas/GMA News)