MANILA: The Philippines witnessed a 1.9 percent rise in remittances to $2.19 billion in May from $2.15 billion during the same period last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has revealed.
Last month’s growth was slower than the 4.1-percent increase registered in April as well as the full-year growth target of four percent, reported Philippine Star.
BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. has attributed the increase in cash remittances to the strong demand for skilled Filipino workers abroad.
“The steady deployment of overseas Filipino workers remained a key driver behind the sustained inflow of remittances,” he reportedly said.
For the first five months, cash remittances grew 2.9 percent to $10.86 billion from $10.55 billion in the same period last year. Remittances from land-based Filipino workers reached $6.8 billion, while sea-based workers contributed $2.4 billion from January to May.
The BSP chief pointed out 80 percent of cash remittances came from the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Japan, Qatar, Kuwait, Hong Kong and Germany.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) indicated that a total of 211,799 Filipino workers were deployed mostly to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan and Hong Kong in the first five months, said the news portal.
More than 80 percent of the deployed Filipino workers were in services and sales, elementary occupations such as those working in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, construction, manufacturing, transport, as well as craft and related trades.
Tetangco added the additional demand for Filipino nurses in Japan and Germany would support the continued inflow of remittances.
Personal remittances rose 1.8 percent to $2.42 billion in May from $2.37 billion in the same month last year, bringing the growth in the first five months to 2.7 percent to $11.99 billion from $11.67 billion.
Personal remittance is computed as the sum of gross earnings of overseas Filipino workers with work contracts of less than one year, including all sea-based workers, less taxes, social contributions, and transportation and travel expenditures in their host countries, reported Philippine Star.
Data showed personal remittance flows consisted primarily of transfers from land-based workers with contracts of one year or more reached $9.2 billion as well as compensation of sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts reaching $2.6 billion.
Last year, cash remittances went up 4.6 percent to a record $25.77 billion from $24.63 billion in 2014 amid the strong demand for skilled Filipino workers abroad.
For this year, remittances are expected to increase by four percent on account of the steady deployment of Filipino workers, greater diversification of country destinations, and shift to higher-skilled types of work, the report said.
