OFW remittances up 2.6% in Sept
MANILA -The increase in the personal money transfers from overseas Filipinos sent within a month remained steady with September remittances rising 2.6 percent to reach a nine-month high of $3.23 billion as the seasonally high-inflow period approached.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement the stable growth path reflected the trajectory of receipts from both land-based and sea-based overseas workers.
Still, the growth of remittances in September was slower than the 4 percent recorded in the same month of 202 and the 2.8 percent seen in the preceding month of August.
The latest monthly result brought the total inflows for the first nine months of 2023 to $27.24 billion, up by 2.8 percent from $26.49 billion for January-September 2022. Nine-month growth this year was also slower than 3.1-percent recorded for the same period last year.
The United States had the highest share of Philippine-bound cash remittances, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Japan.
Of the total remittances received in September, cash remittances or transfers coursed through banks also increased by 2.6 percent to $2.91 billion from $2.84 billion. For the nine-month tally, inbound cash transfers increased by 2.8 percent to $24.94 billion from $23.83 billion.
The latest prints remain consistent with the BSP’s expectation that full-year cash transfer will grow by 3 percent from $36.1 billion last year, which would bring the total to $37.2 billion this year.
According to BMI Country Risk and Industry Research, a unit of Fitch group, remittances could improve the prospects of the Philippine economy as inflows are an important source of income for many Filipino households, and the demand for overseas Filipino workers continued to increase globally.
“In particular, there is a demand for Filipino workers skilled in jobs related to medical and health services, construction and housekeeping,” BMI said in a commentary.
“However, we do highlight several risks to this income over 2023, mostly related to the negative impact from the rising inflation across several global markets,” it added.
