OFW remittances in January to May hit $13.7 billion

Bussiness Mirror

By
 Rea Cu
 -

91


Overseas Filipino workers wave as they arrive at the Naia Terminal 1 in this 2018 BusinessMirror file photo.
PERSONAL remittances made by Filipinos working abroad amounted to $2.9 billion in May this year, pushing remittances to reach $13.7 billion during the first five months of 2019, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has reported.
Latest data from the BSP showed the personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in May represented a 5.5-percent increase, from the $2.7 billion recorded in the same month for 2018.
The January to May 2019 total remittances of $13.7 billion, meanwhile, are 4.1 percent higher than the $13.2 billion recorded during the same period for 2018.
According to the BSP, the steady growth in personal remittances for the five-month period came from the remittance inflows from land-based OFWs with work contracts of one year or more, which aggregated to $10.5 billion from $10.2 billion in the same period last year.
Furthermore, inflows from the compensation of sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts also contributed to the growth, at $2.9 billion coming from $2.7 billion a year ago.
Cash remittances coursed through banks from OFWs for May alone amounted to $2.6 billion, posting an increase of 5.7 percent, compared to the $2.5 billion recorded in May 2018.
This brought cash remittances for the January-to-May period to reach $12.3 billion—a growth of 4.5 percent from the $11.8 billion recorded in the same period last year.
“In particular, cash remittances from land-based and sea-based workers increased by 3.2 percent at $9.7 billion and 9.2 percent at $2.7 billion, respectively, during the first five months of 2019,” the BSP said.
It was pointed out that remittances coming from the United States  registered the highest share of overall remittances for the five-month period at 36 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Qatar and Kuwait.
“The combined remittances from these countries accounted for 78 percent of total cash remittances from January to May 2019,” the BSP added.
According to the BSP, personal remittances is computed as the sum of net compensation of employees, personal transfers and capital transfers between households.
The steady flow of remittances into the country has long been a boon for the country’s economic story—particularly fueling the private consumption part of the country’s gross domestic product growth.

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