Remittances slip in January

Remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos declined in January following the record-high seen in the previous month, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday showed.

Cash remittances — money transfers coursed through banks or formal channels — for the month stood at $2.762 billion, lower than the historic $3.199. billion in December 2022 but higher than the $2.668 billion in January 2022.

“The expansion in cash remittances in January 2023 was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers,” the central bank said in an accompanying statement.

In terms of country sources, the United States accounted for 41.9% of the total remittances for the month, followed by Singapore with 7.2%, and Japan and Saudi Arabia each with 5.9%.

These were followed by the United Kingdom with 4.8%, the United Arab Emirates with 3.2%, Canada with 3.2%, Taiwan with 2.7%, Qatar with 2.7%, Malaysia with 2.5%, and other countries with 20.2%.

Likewise, personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind via informal channels — were recorded at $3.077 billion, lower than the $3.487 billion in December but higher than the $2.966 billion the same month last year.

The central bank attributed the increase to higher remittances sent by 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 Integrated News