Remittances up in March

Remittances from overseas Filipinos increased in March after the monthly decline reported in February, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday showed.

Data released by the central bank showed that cash remittances or money transfers through banks or formal channels stood at $2.738 billion in March, up from $2.646 billion in February, and 2.5% higher than the $2.671 billion in March 2023.

Year-to-date cash remittances were recorded at $8.219 billion to reflect a 2.7% increase from the $8.002 billion in the comparable period of the past year.

“The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Singapore contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in Q1 2024,” the BSP said in an accompanying statement.

The US accounted for 41.2% of remittances for the quarter, followed by Singapore with 7.2%, Saudi Arabia with 5.9%, Japan with 5.0%, and the United Kingdom with 4.4%.

They were followed by the UAE with 4.3%, Canada with 3.2%, Qatar and Taiwan with 2.8% each, Hong Kong with 2.5%, while other countries contributed the remaining 20.7%.

Personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind via informal channels — stood at $3.051 billion in March, up from $2.946 billion in February, and 2.6% higher than the $2.973 billion the same month in 2023.

“The increase in personal remittances in March 2024 was due to 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,” the BSP said.

Year-to-date personal remittances were reported at $9.151 billion, up 2.8% from $8.905 billion in the comparable period of 2023.—AOL, GMA Integrated News