MONEY sent home by overseas Filipino Filipinos (OFWs) reached US$2.70 billion in May 2022, up by two percent than the $2.65 billion posted in the same month last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Friday, July 15, 2022.
This resulted in the increase of the cumulative personal remittances by 2.5 percent to $14.02 billion in the first five months of 2022 from $13.68 billion recorded in the comparable period in 2021.
The increase in personal remittances in May 2022 was due 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.
“Similarly, cash remittances coursed through banks increased by 1.8 percent year-on-year to US$2.43 billion in May 2022 from US$2.38 billion registered in the same month in 2021,” the central bank said.
On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances reached $12.59 billion, 2.5 percent higher than the $12.28 billion recorded in the comparable period last year.
The expansion in cash remittances in May 2022 was due to the growth in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers.
In terms of country source, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Qatar, and Singapore contributed largely to the increase in remittances in the first five months of 2022.