Economy buttressed by 5% remittance hike in ’17, says Bangko Sentral

Personal remittances from expatriate Filipinos posted a new record high of $3 billion in December 2017, representing an expansion of 7.9 percent relative to the level recorded in the same month in the previous year.

This brings the cumulative personal remittances level for January to December 2017 to $31.3 billion, 5.3 percent higher than the $29.7 billion recorded in the previous year and exceeded the BSP’s projection of 4 percent for 2017, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said yesterday.

The sustained growth in personal remittances during the year was steered by the increase in remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more (by 4.1 percent) and from sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year (by 5.3 percent).

The growth in overseas Filipino remittances continued to provide support to the country’s economy as a major driver of domestic demand.

The 2017 level of personal remittances accounted for 10 percent of gross domestic product and 8.3 percent of gross national income.

Similarly, cash remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through banks registered an all-time high of $2.7 billion, rising by 7.1 percent year-on-year in December 2017.

The countries that contributed to the increase in cash remittances during the month were the United States, United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

Full-year cash remittances totaled $28.1 billion, 4.3 percent higher than the $26.9 billion recorded in 2016. The higher cash remittances in 2017 was supported by the increase in transfers from both land-based and sea-based workers, by 4 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.

Notwithstanding pockets of political uncertainties across the globe, cash remittances in 2017 remained resilient. Remittances from the Middle East increased by 3.4 percent, driven by growth in remittances from the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.

Overseas Filipino remittances from Asia rose by 7.3 percent, boosted by transfers originating from Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan. For the Americas, which increased by 5.8 percent, the major contributor was the 5.5 percent growth in remittances from the US.

Despite the decrease in remittances from the United Kingdom (partly due to the depreciation of the pound sterling vis-à-vis the US dollar), remittances from Europe went up by 1.5 percent.

By country source, the bulk of cash remittances for the year came from the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Kuwait, Germany, and Hong Kong. The combined remittances from these countries accounted for 80.1 percent of total cash remittances.