Overseas Pinoys’ cash remittances down to $2.836B in January

Remittances from Filipinos abroad eased during the first month of 2024, from a record-high seen in December 2023, as holiday season-related spending at the onset of new year waned.

Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that cash remittances or money coursed through banks or formal channels stood at $2.836 billion in January 2024, this is lower than the record-high $3.28 billion cash remittances posted in December 2023.

In an emailed commentary, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said cash remittances “seasonally eased” upon crossing the new year in January following the seasonal surge in OFW remittances and conversion to pesos during the Christmas and New Year holiday season in December, “the biggest spending by consumers or households in a typical year.”

Compared to the same month last year, cash remittances grew by 2.7% from $2.762 billion in January 2023.

The BSP said the year-on-year growth in cash remittances in January 2024 “was primarily due to increased receipts from both land- and sea-based workers.”

The United States was the largest source of remittances during the period, accounting for 41.8% of the total.

The US was followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 7.3% and 6% of remittances, respectively.

“The Philippine remittances from overseas workers have consistently been the fourth largest in the world after India, Mexico, and China, amounting more than $40 billion per year, a sign of resilience and has always been a bright spot/major growth driver for the Philippine economy for many years/decades,” Ricafort said.

Personal remittances—tthe sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind via informal channels—aamounted to $3.15 billion in January, up 2.7% from $3.07 billion in January 2023 but lower than the $3.625 billion recorded in December 2023.

The BSP said the year-on-year increase in personal remittances during the period “was driven by increased remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year.”  —Ted Cordero/ VAL, GMA Integrated News