MANILA – Overseas Filipinos’ cash remittances in the first four months reached $10.487 billion, up by 3.2 percent compared with the same period last year of $10.167 billion, based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.
For the month of April alone, cash remittances which are fund transfers via the formal banking system totaled $2.485 billion, 3.7 percent higher than $2.395 billion in April 2022.
Remittances are sent home by land- and sea-based workers. In April, land-based workers remitted $1.94 billion through the banks, four percent higher than same period last year of $1.86 billion. Sea-based workers, meanwhile, remitted $550 million, up by 2.7 percent from $520 million in 2022. Both figures are lower compared to what was reported in March.
Bulk of cash remittances originated from Filipinos working in the US which contributed 41.3 percent, while Singapore and Saudi Arabia accounted for seven percent and 5.9 percent of the total, respectively. Since most of the correspondent banks that remittance centers use are in the US, it would seem that the US is a main source of remittances.
The BSP records both cash remittances and personal remittances. Cash remittances are the basis for BSP’s projection of a three percent growth in remittances for 2023.
Personal remittances are computed as the sum of an overseas Filipino’s net compensation and includes personal transfers and capital transfers between households.
As of end-April, personal remittances amounted to $11.667 billion, up 3.2 percent from same time last year of $11.317 billion. For the month of April, it grew 3.8 percent to $2.773 billion from $2.671 billion.
Land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more had personal transfers of $2.10 billion during the period, up by 3.9 percent from $2.02 billion last year. Sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year sent home $600 million in April, 3.1 percent more than April 2022’s $580 million.
The BSP has a lower remittances growth forecast of three percent this year from previous years’ projections of four percent because of an expected slowdown in global growth.
In an email, the BSP said the economic slowdown “poses a key concern on job quality, as workers may have to accept poorly paying jobs, which, when coupled with inflation, could significantly reduce incomes.”
“The outlook likewise considers expectations of moderated employment and migration conditions on account of the projected global slowdown,” it added.
The BSP also pointed out that the reduced capacity of migrants to remit this year and in 2024 was because of recession-induced job losses in affected countries.
Last year, cash remittances increased by 3.6 percent year-on-year to $32.539 billion. This was a lower growth rate compared to 5.1 percent recorded in 2021.
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