Remittances grew to 7.0% in June to mark a six-month high, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday revealed.
Central bank data showed that cash remittances — money transfers coursed through banks — rose to $2.638 billion from $2.465 billion the same month last year.
This is the highest in six months since cash remittances stood at $2.890 billion in December 2020.
Receipts from land-based workers jumped 7.1% to $2.136 billion from $1.994 billion, and sea-based workers by 6.5% to $502 million from $472 million.
Year-to-date cash remittances climbed 6.4% to $14.918 billion from $14.019 billion.
“The growth in cash remittances in January to June 2021 came largely from the United States, Malaysia, and South Korea,” the central bank said in an accompanying statement.
The United States accounted for 40.1% of overall remittances, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, South Korea, Qatar, and Taiwan, with a combined 78.4% of total cash remittances.
Personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind via informal channels — for June grew 7.3% to $2.936 billion from $2.737 billion.
The BSP attributed the growth to land-based workers with work contracts of at least a year, and sea- and land-based workers worth contracts of less than a year.
Year-to-date personal remittances rose by 6.7% to $16.616 billion from $15.573 billion in the first six months of 2020.
Source: GMA