Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos reached $8.219 billion by the end of the first quarter this year, up by 2.7 percent from same period in 2023 of $8 billion, based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.
For the month of March only, cash remittances via the formal channel or transmitted through banks rose by 2.5 percent to $2.738 billion versus $2.671 billion last year.
The BSP said Wednesday, May 15, that the growth in cash remittances in March was due to the increase in the receipts from both land- and sea-based workers.
For the first three months, cash remittances by land-based workers totaled $6.53 billion, up 3.1 percent from $6.33 billion in 2023. Sea-based workers also transferred $1.69 billion, up 1.1 percent from $1.67 billion last year.
Cash remittances from the US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Singapore contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first quarter this year, said the BSP.
“In terms of the countries where these remittances originated, the U.S. had the highest share of overall remittances during the period, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia,” it added.
As of end-March, the US has a 41.2 percent share of total remittances. The US normally appears as the top country source of remittances because of a common practice of remittance centers to course remittances through correspondent banks based in the US.
After the US, Singapore has 7.2 percent share of fund transfers, followed by Saudi Arabia with 5.9 percent and Japan with five percent.
With personal remittances which are not coursed through the banks, remittances totaled $9.151 billion in the first quarter, up by 2.8 percent from same period last year of $8.905 billion.
For the month of March only, personal remittances increased by 2.6 percent to $3.051 billion from $2.973 billion.
Personal remittances are from 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.
For the first three months, the central bank said land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more transferred personal remittances of $7.08 billion, up three percent from $6.87 billion last year. Sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year sent home $1.86 billion, up 1.7 percent from $1.82 billion in 2023.
The BSP records both cash remittances and personal remittances but they base its projection for remittances on the cash remittances data.
Personal remittances are computed as the sum of an overseas Filipino’s net compensation and includes personal transfers and capital transfers between households.
For 2024, the BSP expects cash remittances to grow by three percent year-on-year.
Last year, cash remittances totaled $33.491 billion, up 2.9 percent from 2022’s $32.539 billion.