Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos soar to $2.3B in Feb – BSP

Filipino domestic helpers line up to send money at a remittance center in the central district of Hong Kong in this file photo. AFP/TED ALJIBE

MANILA, Philippines — Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos in the first two months of the year has reached $4.78 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Monday.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno made the announcement after the reported $2.3 billion cash remittances in February, a 1.5 increase compared to the $2.27 billion cash remittances reported in February 2018.

Diokno said cash remittances from both land-based and sea-based Filipino workers also increased by 1 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively.

Diokno added that personal remittances, which includes non-cash remittances, also increased to $2.56 billion in February, a 1.2 percent increase from $2.53 billion during the same month last year.

The BSP governor said that in terms of source of remittances, the United States covers 35.5 percent of the overall remittances followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Canada, Qatar, Hong Kong, and Germany.

“The combined remittances from these countries accounted for 77.3 percent of total cash remittances for January to February 2019,” the BSP said.