By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson, A reporter
MONEY FROM OVERSEAS Filipino workers (OFW) increased in the year 3.2% in August, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
Data from the central bank showed that remittances increased by 3.2% to $2.89 billion from $2.8 billion last year.
“The increase in remittances in August 2024 was due to the increase in receipts from workers working on land and sea,” the BSP said in a statement.
Income from land-based workers increased 3.9% year-on-year to $2.28 billion, while remittances from offshore workers increased 0.7% to $603.216 million.
Month-on-month, remittances declined from $3.08 billion posted in July.
Personal remittances, which include income by type, rose 3.3% to $3.2 billion in August from $3.1 billion a year earlier.
“The increase in remittances in August 2024 was due to higher remittances from land workers with work contracts of one year or more and sea and land workers with work contracts of less than one year,” the central bank said.
Income from workers with contracts of one year or more rose 3.7% to $2.47 billion, while remittances from workers with contracts of less than a year increased 1.4% to $670 million.
A PERIOD OF EIGHT MONTHS
During January-August, the issuance of money was increased by 2.9% to $22.22 billion from $21.58 billion a year ago.
“The increase in remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore contributed significantly to the increase in remittances in January-August 2024,” the BSP said.
The United States accounted for nearly half or 41.3% of all remittances to fthe first eight months. It was followed by Singapore (7%), Saudi Arabia (6.1%), the United Kingdom (4.9%) and Japan (4.8%).
Other sources of remittances were the United Arab Emirates (4.2%), Canada (3.5%), Qatar (2.9%), Taiwan (2.7%) and South Korea (2.6%).
Meanwhile, remittances rose 3% to $24.74 billion at the end of August from $24.01 billion a year ago.
Chief Economist Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Michael L. Ricafort said the continued growth of remittances is a “good sign” for the economy.
“Remittances to the Philippines from overseas workers have been the fourth largest in the world after India, Mexico and China, reaching more than $40 billion annually – a sign of resilience – and have been a bright spot in the Philippine economy for many years. ,” he said in a Viber message.
Mr. Ricafort noted that the stronger peso in August also contributed to lower monthly outflows.
“In the month of August, the exchange rate of the US dollar decreased, especially at the levels of P56-57, compared to the levels of P58 in July 2024 which somewhat reduced the peso equivalent of OFW remittances and partially increased the year-on-year growth. from the money sent by OFWs in the past months.”
The peso strengthened to P56.111 to the dollar on August 30 from its close of P58.365 on July 31.
Mr. Ricafort said he expects continued single-digit growth in remittances in the coming months amid “normalization of household spending on essentials and non-essentials.”
The upcoming holiday season appears to be encouraging remittance growth.
“Remittances are expected to increase during the holidays after the increase in the number of workers employed [to the August growth],” said John Paolo R. Rivera, a senior researcher at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said.
The central bank expects cash remittances will grow by 3% this year.
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