Personal remittances from Filipinos living and working abroad reached USD3.43 billion in July, an increase of 3.2 percent from the USD3.32 billion total in the same month last year.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Monday that the increase was driven by higher remittances from both land-based workers with contracts of one year or more and those with shorter-term contracts.
For the first seven months of 2024, total remittances reached USD21.53 billion, higher by 3.0 percent from USD20.91 billion recorded during the same period in 2023.
Cash remittances sent through banks amounted to USD3.08 billion in July, up 3.1 percent from USD2.99 billion in July last year. The growth in cash remittances was largely attributed to higher receipts from land- and sea-based workers.
Year-to-date, cash remittances have grown by 2.9 percent to USD19.33 billion from USD18.79 billion in the previous year.
BSP said fund transfers coming from the US, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were a significant factor in the growth in cash remittances. The US accounted for the largest share of overall remittances in January-July 2024, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
