The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas says overseas workers’ personal remittances have reached $2.7 billion in May.
DOLLARS sent home by Filipinos abroad continued to rise in May thanks mainly to those with long-term contracts as land-based workers and seafarers, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Monday.
In a press statement, the central bank said personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached $2.7 billion in May 2018, representing a 6.1-percent increase over the level posted a year ago.
On a cumulative basis, personal remittances for the first five months of the year grew by 4.4 percent year-on-year to reach $13.2 billion, BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. announced.
Personal remittances during the period were driven by steady inflows from land-based overseas Filipino workers with work contracts of one year or more, which totaled to $10.2 billion, and compensation of sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts, which reached $2.7 billion.
Similarly, cash remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through banks rose by 6.9 percent year-on-year to $2.5 billion in May 2018.
In particular, cash remittances sent by land-based workers ($1.9 billion) and sea-based workers ($500 million) grew by 5.3 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.