Overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances picked up in July to $3.32 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported on Friday.
Overall or personal remittances grew by 2.5 percent to $3.32 billion from $3.24 billion a year earlier, with cash sent home via banks alone totaling $2.99 billion, 2.6 percent higher compared to the $2.92 billion recorded in July last year.
The rise in personal remittances was attributed to land-based OFWs with contracts of a year or more and sea- and land-based workers with contracts of less than one year.
Year to date, overall remittances totaled $20.91 billion, 2.9 percent higher than the year-earlier $20.33 billion.
Cash remittances, meanwhile, also grew by 2.9 percent to $18.79 billion from $18.26 billion during the seven-month period.
July's 2.5-percent growth in personal remittances improved from June's 2.2 percent and the year-earlier 2.3 percent.
The year-to-date expansion, however, slowed from 3.0 percent a month earlier but was still slightly higher than the 2.7 percent posted as of end-July last year.
The cash remittance growth of 2.6 percent, meanwhile, improved from June's 2.1 percent and the 2.3 percent last year.
Year-to-date growth was unchanged from June but rose from 2.8 percent in January-July 2022.
The cumulative growth in cash remittances was traced to flows from the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The US accounted for the biggest share (41.3 percent) of overall remittances for the seven-month period, followed by Singapore (6.9 percent), Saudi Arabia (5.9 percent) and Japan (5.0 percent).
Other countries that contributed to overall remittances were the United Kingdom (4.8 percent), the UAE (4.1 percent), Canada (3.5 percent), Qatar (2.8 percent), Korea (2.7 percent) and Taiwan (2.7 percent).
Commenting on the results, China Banking Corp. chief economist Domini Velasquez said the year-to-date moderation was the result of slowing economic activities, particularly in Europe and the US.
"On the other hand, remittances from Asia would continue to outperform the rest of the world led by Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Hong Kong and the Middle East in the near term," she added.
"Increasing domestic inflation and a relatively depreciated currency could induce more remittances in the next few months," Velasquez continued.
Source: Manila Times
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