Remittances hit seven-month high in July

Remittances from overseas Filipinos continued to climb to hit a seven-month high in July driven mainly by higher receipts from land- and sea-based workers during the month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported Thursday.

Central bank data showed that cash remittances or money transfers coursed through banks increased by 2.3% to $2.917 billion from $2.853 billion the same month last year.

This compares with the $2.755 billion in June, and is the highest remittance inflow in seven months since $2.987-billion worth of cash remittances came in in December 2021.

“The expansion in cash remittances in July 2022 was due to the growth in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers,” the BSP said in an accompanying statement.

The United States was the biggest source of cash remittances, accounting for 41.4%. It was followed by Singapore with 6.9%, Saudi Arabia with 5.9%, Japan with 5.0%, and the United Kingdom with 4.9%.

The United Arab Emirates contributed 4.0%, Canada with 3.5%, Qatar with 2.8%, South Korea with 2.7%, Taiwan with 2.7%, and other countries with 20.3%.

Year-to-date cash remittances stood at $18.264 billion, up 2.8% from $17.771 billion in the comparable period last year.

Meanwhile, personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind via informal channels — hit $3.240 billion.

This is 2.3% higher than the $3.167 billion in July 2021, and up from the $3.064 billion in June. This is also the highest personal remittance inflow since December 2021’s $3.298 billion.

Cumulative personal remittances were recorded at $20.326 billion, 2.7% higher than the $19.783 billion in the first seven months of the previous year.

The BSP attributed the increase to higher receipts from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts less than a year.—AOL, GMA News