MANILA -- Filipinos working abroad sent home $1.4 billion in August, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, as the global economy recovered and job prospects improved, the central bank said Thursday.

The latest figures brought to $11.3 billion total remittances in the first eight months, representing 3.7 percent growth from the same period last year, the bank said.

Remittances were projected to rise 4 percent this year to a record $17.1 billion, central bank Governor Amando Tetangco said.

The money sent home by 10 million overseas workers - or 10 percent of the population of 90 million - fuels domestic spending, which is the backbone of the economy. Remittances account for 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Tetangco said the Philippine government has signed employment agreements with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, while Filipino workers can expect more jobs during the impending expansion of U.S. military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

Aggressive marketing by banks and nonbank remittance centers has resulted in the "capture of a larger share of the global remittance market," he said. (AP)