OFW remittances hit 10-month high in Oct
Credit to Author: Mayvelin U. Caraballo, TMT| Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2019 16:59:19 +0000
MONEY sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) rose to a 10-month high in October, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed on Monday.
Personal remittances — personal transfers whether in cash or kind, and capital transfers between households — reached $2.96 billion, 7.7-percent higher than the $2.75 billion posted a year ago and 12.12-percent higher than the $2.64 billion reported in September.
The amount was the highest since December 2018, when remittances hit $3.15 billion.
The latest figure brought the year-to-date tally to $27.61 billion, up by 4.3 percent from $26.47 billion in the same period in 2018.
By type of worker, the central bank said personal remittances for January to October 2019 from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more grew by 3.8 percent to $21.1 billion from $20.3 billion in the same period last year.
Also, the combined remittances of sea-based and land-based workers with short-term contracts increased by 7.5 percent to $5.9 billion during the period compared to $5.5 billion a year ago, it added.
Cash remittances, which only count money coursed through banks, rose by 8 percent to
$2.67 billion in October from $2.47 billion a year earlier. It also rose by 12.27 percent from $2.37 billion in September.
Year to date, cash remittances grew by 4.6 percent to $24.85 billion from $23.76 billion last year.
The BSP said by type of worker, cash remittances from land-based and sea-based workers increased by 3.8 percent to $19.4 billion, and 8 percent to $5.4 billion, respectively.
Remittances from the United States were the highest at 37.6 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, and Kuwait.
“The combined remittances from these countries accounted for 78.4 percent of total cash remittances during the period,” the BSP added.
In a comment, IHS Markit APAC chief economist Rajiv Biswas highlighted the importance of strong remittances to the Philippine economy, saying that these inflows are a key factor underpinning private consumption.
With remittances up 4.3 percent during the year-to-date, he added the overall upturn in worker remittances during the year is also playing a positive role in the overall economic performance for 2019.
“Growing inflows of worker remittances are also helping to support the Philippines balance of payments position during a year when the current account has remained in substantial deficit,” Biswas added.
The country’s payments balance was earlier reported to have reverted to a surplus of $5.56 billion from the $5.13-billion deficit registered in the same period last year.
Its major component, current account, posted a narrower deficit of $992 million or 0.3 percent of gross domestic product, 83-percent lower than the $5.83-billion deficit in the same period last year.