Cash remittances sent by overseas Filipinos reached $20.98 billion as of end-August, up by three percent from same period last year of $20.38 billion, based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.

For the month of August only, bank-transferred remittances grew by 4.3 percent to $2.721 billion versus $2.609 billion same time in 2021.

“The expansion in cash remittances in August 2022 was due to the growth in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers,” said BSP on Monday, Oct. 17.

Land-based overseas Filipinos remitted $2.13 billion in August only, higher than last year’s $2.03 billion. Sea-based workers, on the other hand, sent home $590 million from $580 million.

“In terms of country source, the growth in cash remittances from the United States (US), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Qatar contributed largely to the increase in remittances in the first eight months of 2022,” said the BSP.

Since remittance centers transact with US-based correspondent banks, the US is tagged usually as the source of these remittances. As such, the US accounted for 41.7 percent of total cash remittances as of end-August.

The BSP also reported that the eight-month personal remittances which are not coursed through banks, reached $23.43 billion. This was three percent higher compared to same period last year of $22.67 billion.

BSP defines personal remittances as the sum of the net compensation of overseas Filipinos, personal transfers and capital transfers between households. For August alone, personal remittances totaled $3.017 billion, up by 4.4 percent from $2.889 billion.

The BSP said the increase in personal remittances was attributed to remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year.

The BSP expects cash remittances to grow by four percent by end-2022.

Last year, cash remittances increased by 5.1 percent year-on-year to a record high of $31.42 billion.

The BSP has not revised the four-percent per year remittances growth projection because officials noted that it will be difficult to aim for higher as countries are still recovering from the pandemic amid high inflation and currency depreciation.

The BSP's Monetary Board recently approved the new set of 2022 and 2023 balance of payments (BOP) projections and while most external sector numbers were adjusted, remittances projection remained fixed as in previous years.

“While tighter global financial conditions are expected to restrain inward financial flows, there continues to be some optimism on the domestic front that could partly offset the impact of elevated external risks on the BOP,” said the BSP. “Along with the expected revival of foreign travel receipts, sustained resilience of overseas Filipinos remittances and business process outsourcing revenues, as well as inflows from foreign direct investments are expected to positively contribute to the external sector outlook,” it added.

The BSP said the forecast for cash remittances remains four percent in line with its “long-term growth trend and its demonstrated resilience, rising overseas Filipino workers’ deployment on the back of renewed hiring interest for overseas Filipino workers, and increased use of digital financial services by remitters and their beneficiaries.”

The BSP added that as the Covid-19 situation becomes more manageable and international travel restrictions further lifted across jurisdictions, both international tourism and overseas Filipino workers’ deployment prospects will remain favorable.