Cash remittances sent by Overseas Filipinos (OFs) through the banking networks amounted to $2.76 billion in January, up 3.5 percent from same period last year of $2.67 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday, March 15. The BSP said the “growth in cash remittances from the United States (US), Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Singapore contributed largely to the increase in remittances in January 2023.” By country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances with 41.9 percent, followed by Singapore with 7.2 percent, and then Japan and Saudi Arabia both with 5.9 percent each. The US would normally post the highest share because remittance centers course these cash transfers through correspondent banks based in the US. The expansion in cash remittances in January was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers, noted the BSP. Land-based OFs remitted $2.19 billion in January, up four percent from $2.1 billion in January 2022. Sea-based workers, meanwhile, sent home $580 million, up by 1.8 percent from $570 million. Personal remittances, computed as the sum of an overseas Filipino’s net compensation including personal transfers, totalled $3.07 billion in January. It is also higher by 3.5 percent compared to same period last year of $2.97 billion. “The increase in personal remittances in January 2023 was due to higher remittances sent by 1) land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more and 2) sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year,” said the BSP. Land-based workers’ personal remittances totalled $2.37 billion in January, up by 3.9 percent from $2.28 billion same time in 2022. Sea-based workers remitted $630 million, up by 2.1 percent from $620 million. In 2022, OFs sent home $32.54 billion remittances which was 3.6 percent higher compared to $31.42 billion in 2021. The BSP has an annual four percent cash remittances projection for several years in a row. In 2021, this target was exceeded when cash remittances increased by 5.1 percent year-on-year.