BSP reports higher dollar remittance from overseas Filipinos in July

MANILA, Philippines—Dollars sent home by expatriate Filipinos rose marginally in July, thanks partly to money from workers with short term contracts for sea- and land-based jobs, according to the latest data from the central bank.

More importantly, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that this performance added to the level of overseas worker remittances in the first seven months of 2021, despite the economic challenges around the world brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the BSP said that personal remittances from Filipinos abroad increased by 2.6 percent to $3.167 billion in July 2021 from $3.085 billion in the same month in 2020.

This resulted in an increase in cumulative remittances by 6 percent from January to July 2021 or $19.783 billion from $18.658 billion in the same period in 2020.

“The growth in personal remittances in July was due to remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more,” said the BSP. The numbers grew by 1.6 percent to $2.506 billion from $2.467 billion, the BSP added.

It said remittance from land and sea-based workers with job contracts of less than one year grew by 6.9 percent to $595 million from $557 million.

Dollar remittances from the country’s estimated 10 million overseas Filipinos are a pillar of the country’s economy, accounting for an average of 10 percent of domestic consumption, according to economists.

Of personal remittances from expatriate Filipinos, cash remittances coursed through banks amounted to $2.853 billion in July 2021, up by 2.5 percent year-on-year from $2.783 billion in 2020.

The increase in cash remittances was due to the growth in remittances from land-based workers and sea-based workers, which rose by 1.6 percent to $2.308 billion from $2.273 billion and 6.9 percent to $545 million from $510 million.

Cumulative cash remittances increased by 5.8 percent to $17.771 billion in January to July 2021 from $16.802 billion registered in the same period in 2020.

The growth in cash remittances in the first seven months of 2021 came mainly from the United States, Malaysia and South Korea. In terms of country sources, the US registered the highest share of overall remittances at 40.4 percent in January to July 2021, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, South Korea, Qatar and Taiwan.

The combined remittances from these top 10 countries accounted for 78.6 percent of total cash remittances.

TSB