Remittances up 5.9% in June

AFP FILE PHOTO

Growth in cash from migrant workers continued its streak, rising in June to its highest level since last December as Filipino labor remained in demand overseas.

The expansion of official remittance networks abroad also made it more convenient and affordable for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to send cash back home to their families, helping drive growth in transfers.

“Remittances remained robust on the back of stable demand for skilled Filipinos abroad,” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a statement issued on Friday.

In June, remittances from OFWs rose by 5.9 percent to P2.05 billion—the highest since December’s $2.17 billion.

The expansion in June was in line with official forecasts that remittances would grow by 5 percent this year.

Year-to-date, cash remittances were up 5.8 percent to $11.4 billion, data from the BSP showed.

Cash transfers from migrant workers are the largest source of foreign exchange income for the country, which helps prop up the peso’s value in the face of volatile investment flows.

Remittances are also among the main drivers of domestic consumption, which makes up two-thirds of domestic output.

This year, the BSP expects remittances to grow by at least 5 percent to about $24 billion.

Last year, remittances were up by 7.4 percent.

Bulk of the remittances that entered the country came from migrants in the United States, making up 79 percent of the total.

This proportion may be inflated by remittances that are counted as being from the United States because they are sent through American companies, despite be     ing from other countries.

The central bank said data from the state’s manning agency showed demand for Filipino workers remained strong.

Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) showed that, for the January-June period, job orders reached 371,097 workers, more than a third of which were for skilled jobs in the Middle East and Asia.

The expanded networks of banks—built up through partnerships with foreign financial institutions—also helped in boosting remittance flow.

As of the end of the first semester, commercial banks’ established tie-ups, remittance centers, correspondent bank and branches and representative offices rose by 6 percent to 4,409 locations around the world.