The remittances of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) rose by 3.0 percent year-on-year to $2.97 billion in March from $2.89 billion last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Monday.
The increase was attributed to higher remittances from land-based workers with contracts of a year or more and sea- and land-based OFWs with contracts of less than a year.
Month-on-month, the remittances also increased by 3.8 percent from a record $2.86 billion in February.
Personal remittances expanded to $8.91 billion in the first quarter of 2023, 3.0 percent higher than the $8.65 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Cash remittances coursed through banks in March also rose by 3.0 percent to $2.67 billion from $2.59 billion in the same month a year ago. This was also higher than the $2.57 billion recorded in February.
In the first three months of 2023, cash remittances through banks accelerated by 3.0 percent to $8.0 billion from $7.77 billion in the same period of 2022.
"The growth in cash remittances from the United States (US), Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first quarter of 2023," the central bank said in a statement.
The US accounted for the biggest share -- 41.4 percent -- of overall remittances in March 2023, followed by Singapore (7.3 percent), Saudi Arabia (5.8 percent) and Japan (5.1 percent).
They were followed by the United Kingdom (4.4 percent), UAE (4.2 percent), Canada (3.1 percent), Qatar (2.7 percent), Taiwan (2.7 percent), and Hongkong (2.5 percent).
Source: Manila Times