Overseas Filipino workers have begun sending bigger amounts in their remittances to the Philippines, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) which reported a strong surge of cash sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in April.
Cash remittances grew by 12.7 percent to reach $2.3 billion in April. This was the strongest year-on-year growth in remittances in almost five years, the BSP stated.
Land-based workers’ remittances increased by 15.2 percent to $1.779 billion, while sea-based workers by 4.9 percent to $526 million.
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The strong April remittance growth highlighted OFWs sending a total of $9.9 billion in the first four months of the year – which was 4.8 percent higher than the $9.4-billion remittance inflows to the country in the same period last year, the BSP stated.
It noted that the January to April remittance level in 2021 also exceeded the pre-pandemic cash remittance flows, while in 2019, Filipino migrant workers sent $9.7 billion back home.
The growth in cash remittances for the first four months of the year came largely in higher remittances from the United States (US), Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.
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The US registered the highest share of overall remittances at 40.3 percent for the first four months, 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 78.1 percent of total cash remittances, the BSP added.
Meanwhile. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) economist Michael Ricafort said that remittances would continue growing in the coming months, especially amid the continued much lower base until May 2021, and amidst the need to send more remittances to OFW families/dependents for coping with COVID-19 pandemic/lockdowns and higher inflation/prices in recent months.
He said these remittances growth would continue in coming months due to faster economic recovery in major host countries and massive vaccination reducing new Covid-19 cases while also supporting better economic conditions and more job opportunities/employment for OFWs. (AW)
