MANILA -- Personal remittances of Overseas Filipinos (OFs) increased by 6.8 percent year on year to P2.8 billion in June 2017, the Central Bank of the Philippines (CBP) announced Tuesday, Aug. 15.
Total remittances for the first semester is $15.4 billion, higher by 5.5 percent than the level posted in the same period a year ago, BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla said.
The CBP accounted the growth from land-based workers with long-term contracts, whose remittances comprised 77.3 percent of total personal remittances.
Further, the growth was also supported by the 1.7 percent rise in remittances from sea-based and land-based workers with short-term contracts.
Similarly, cash remittances from OFs coursed through banks, amounting to $2.5 billion in June 2017, went up by 5.7 percent year-on-year, the Central Bank said.
Cash remittances from land-based workers (at $1.9 billion) and from sea-based workers (at $500 million), posted a 3.8 percent and 13.3 percent growth, respectively, compared to the level reported in the same month a year ago.
The United States (US), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong and Singapore were the major contributors to the growth in cash remittances during the month.
Cash transfers from the US and UAE each contributed 1.9 percentage points to the 5.7 overall growth in cash remittances while those from Hong Kong and Singapore contributed a combined 1.1 percentage points.
By country source, the bulk of cash remittances came from the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Kuwait, Germany and Hong Kong.
The remittances from these countries accounted for almost 80 percent of total cash remittances in the first semester of 2017.
Central Bank noted that the sustained increase in OF remittances was supported by stable demand for skilled Filipinos abroad.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that for the period January-June 2017, the total number of deployed OF workers reached 1.14 million, which is already more than 50 percent of the total number of OF workers deployed for the year 2016 at 2.11 million. (PNA)
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