Remittances increased by 3% to $8b in first quarter—BSP

MONEY sent home by Filipinos working overseas grew 3 percent in the first quarter to $8 billion from $7.77 billion a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Monday.

“The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first quarter of 2023,” the BSP said in a statement.

It said that in terms of country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances in the period, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Data showed that cash remittances in March also rose 3 percent to $2.67 billion from $2.59 billion a year earlier. This was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers.

Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also rose 3 percent in March to $2.97 billion from $2.89 billion recorded in the same month last year.

“The increase in personal remittances in March 2023 was due to higher remittances sent by landbased 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.

Personal remittances went up by 3 percent in the first quarter to $8.91 billion from $8.65 billion in the comparable period in 2022.

Cash remittances went up 3.6 percent in 2022 to a record $ 32.54 billion from $ 31.42 billion in 2021 on sustained demand for skilled Filipino workers overseas. The full- year remittances growth, however, missed the official target of 4 percent set by the Bangko Sentral.