Money sent home by Filipinos working overseas rose 2.8 percent in November 2018 to $2.32 billion from $2.26 billion a year earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday.
The BSP said in a statement the November figure brought total cash remittances in the first 11 months of 2018 to $26.1 billion, up 3.1 percent from $25.3 billion registered in the same period in 2017.
Data showed cash remittances from both land-based ($20.5 billion) and sea-based workers ($5.5 billion) recorded increments of 2.8 percent and 4.1 percent for January to November, respectively.
The bulk of cash remittances in the 11-month period came from the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong.
Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also grew 2.4 percent in November 2018 to $2.6 billion. On a cumulative basis, personal remittances in January to November reached $29.1 billion, or 2.9 percent higher than the level posted a year ago.
“The growth in personal remittances during the first eleven months of 2018 was supported by remittance inflows from land-based OFs with work contracts of one year or more as well as remittances from sea-based and land-based OFs with work contracts of less than one year which increased by 2.8 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively,” BSP Deputy Governor Maria Almasara Cyd Tuaño-Amador said.
The Bangko Sentral predicted that full-year remittances would increase 3 percent in 2018, taking into consideration the pace of global economic growth.
Remittances reached a record $28.06 billion in 2017, up 4.3 percent from $26.90 billion in 2016.
The higher cash remittances in 2017 were supported by the increase in transfers from both land-based and sea-based workers.