MANILA, Dec. 16 (PNA) — Personal inflows from Filipinos overseas posted its record-high monthly level last October after it reached US$ 2.28 billion.
Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monday showed that the inflows in the 10th month this year is way higher than the US$ 2.14 billion in the previous month and year-ago’s US$ 2.1 billion.
The latest figure is the seventh consecutive month that remittances reached the US$ 2 billion mark and the highest monthly growth rate of 8.8 percent, said BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr.
Inflows of remittances has been surpassing the central bank’s five percent full-year target this year except in March when it grew by 3.7 percent.
Year-on-year, remittances grew by 6.8 percent after it reached US$ 20.45 billion from year-ago’s US$ 19.14 billion.
Tetangco attributed the strong growth of remittances to robust demand for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) showed that processed job orders in the first 10 months this year reached 675,966 and 39.7 percent of which are for deployment in services, production, professional, technical, and related workers sectors.
These are for requirements of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Qatar.
He said inflows from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, which account to the 75.5 percent of total inflows to date, rose by 5.5 percent.
Expansion of inflows from sea-based workers and land-based workers with contract of less than a year rose higher at 7.5 percent.
Similarly, cash remittances coursed through banks grew by seven percent year-on-year in the 10th month this year to US$ 2.1 billion while year-to-date cash flows totalled to US$ 18.5 billion, up six percent year-on-year.
Bulk of the inflows came from land-based workers at US$ 14.2 billion while those from sea-based workers reached US$ 4.3 billion.
These came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Canada, and Japan.
“Sustained demand for skilled and professional Filipino manpower overseas supported the steady rise in remittances for the first ten months of the year,” Tetangco said.
Enhanced partnership of Philippine banks with counterparts overseas as well as remittance service providers also boosted the increase in remittance expansion. (PNA)