Personal Remittances Grow at 15-month High in March
MANILA – Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at the close of the first quarter rose at the fastest pace in more than five years.
In a report, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said cash remittances increased by 11.3 percent to $2.101 billion last March from $1.888 billion in the same month last year.
Including non-cash transfers, personal remittances rose by 11 percent to $2.326 billion this year from $2.095 billion in 2014. This was the fastest growth since the 13.8 percent uptick in December 2013.
The March growth brings the first-quarter expansion to 5.1 percent.
Remittances fuel consumer spending, which comprises two-thirds of the Philippine economy.
The BSP ascribed the growth in remittances to demand for skilled Filipinos abroad. Citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the BSP said approved job orders reached 243,045 in the first quarter, of which 31 percent were processed. These involved service, production and technical jobs in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates.