MONEY sent home by migrant Filipino workers in May rose 1.9 percent to $2.186 billion from $2.147 billion year-on-year, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Friday show.
The May expansion was slower than the 4.1-percent growth recorded in April 2016. The May figure brought cash remittances in the first five months to $10.859 billion, up 2.9 percent from $10.555 billion a year ago.
Cash remittances from both land-based and sea-based workers totaled $8.5 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively, during the five-month period. About 80 percent of cash remittances came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Japan, Qatar, Kuwait, Hong Kong and Germany.
Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, rose 1.8 percent in May to $2.416 billion from $2.374 billion a year ago. The figure brought personal remittances in the first five months to $11.993 billion, up 2.7 percent from $11.674 billion a year ago.
“The steady growth in personal remittances drew support from the inflows from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, amounting to $9.2 billion, and compensation of sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts that reached $2.6 billion,” the bank regulator said.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that the number of deployed workers reached 211,799 in the first five months of 2016.
Over 80 percent of the workers were hired in services and sales, elementary occupations such as those working in the agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining, construction, manufacturing and transport sectors, and craft and related trades workers.
“These workers were deployed mostly to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Further, reports from the POEA of additional demand for Filipino nurses in Japan and Germany are expected to support the continued flow of remittances,” the Bangko Sentral said.
Cash remittances in 2015 grew 4.6 percent to a record $25.767 billion from $24.628 billion year-on-year, surpassing the conservative 4-percent growth projection of the Bangko Sentral. They accounted for around 10 percent of gross domestic product in 2015. Bangko Sentral retained the 4-percent growth target for remittances this year.
Earlier, British banking giant Hongkong and Shanghai Bangking Corp. said it was expecting money sent home by migrant Filipino workers this year to increase 3.5 percent, bucking the effects of external developments and providing additional strength to the domestic economy.
In a report Thursday, HSBC said remittances displayed volatility in the previous months but “held up well so far this year.” It said transfers, especially from the United States, continued to contract, partly due to regulatory measures that constrained overall remittances.
“… We forecast remittances growth of 3.5 percent this year, which should help the private consumption and power growth alongside investment and government spending,” HSBC said. HSBC’s assumption, however, was lower than the 4-percent target of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Remittances and business process outsourcing receipts provide steady inflows, which boost private consumption. They both account for nearly $50 billion worth of inflows every year