Dollar remittances sustain growth in September—BSP

Photo courtesy of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Facebook Page

MANILA, Philippines—Dollars sent home by expatriate Filipinos rose further in September as land-based workers with long term contracts remitted more funds to their local beneficiaries, according to the central bank.

In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said personal remittances by overseas citizens reached $3.026 billion in September 2021, 4.8 percent higher than the $2.888 billion recorded in the same month in 2020.

This resulted in cumulative remittances rising by 5.7 percent in the first nine months of 2021 to $25.699 billion from $24.302 billion registered in the comparable period in 2020.

The increase in personal remittances in September was due to remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, which grew by 6.2 percent to $2.341 billion from $2.205 billion in the same month last year.

Additionally, sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year also saw their remittances increase by 1.7 percent to $633 million from $623 million a year ago.

Of the personal remittances from overseas Filipinos, cash coursed through banks registered a 5.2 percent growth to $2.737 billion in September 2021 from $2.601 billion recorded in the same month last year.

The expansion in cash remittances was due to the increase in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers, which rose by 6.2 percent to $2.156 billion from $2.031 billion and 1.9 percent to $581 million from $570 million.

On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances reached $23.117 billion in the first nine months of 2021, which was 5.6 percent higher than the year-ago level of $21.886 billion.

The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea contributed largely to the increase in remittances in January-September 2021.

In terms of country sources, the US registered the highest share of overall remittances at 40.8 percent in the first nine months of 2021, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Taiwan, Qatar and South Korea.

The combined remittances from these top ten countries accounted for 78.9 percent of total cash remittances.

The central bank said it is common practice for remittance centers abroad to course funds through correspondent banks, most of which are located in the US. Additionally, remittances coursed through money couriers cannot be disaggregated by actual country source and are lodged under the country where the main offices are located, which, in many cases, is in the US.

TSB