Personal Remittances for the First 11 Months of 2017 Reach US$28.2 Billion

Personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) reached US$2.5 billion in November 2017, 3.2 percent higher than the level posted in the same month in 2016.

This brought the cumulative remittances for the first 11 months of 2017 to US$28.2 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of 5.1 percent, BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said.

The growth in personal remittances for January to November 2017 was supported by the sustained expansion of remittances from land-based OFs with work contracts of one year or more (3.7 percent) as well as those from sea-based and land-based OFs with work contracts of less than one year (5.1 percent).

Likewise, cash remittances coursed through banks rose by 2.0 percent year-on-year to US$2.3 billion in November 2017. The top countries that contributed to the growth in cash remittances during the month were the United States (1.1 percentage point contribution) and Germany (0.9 percentage point). On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances at end-November 2017 totaled US$25.3 billion. This represents a 4.0 percent increase from the 2016 level. Cash remittances from both land-based and sea-based workers recorded increments of 3.7 percent and 5.1 percent for January to November 2017, respectively.

The bulk of cash remittances for the first eleven months of the year came from the United States, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Kuwait, Germany, and Hong Kong. Combined remittances from these countries accounted for 80.2 percent of total cash remittances. (BSP)