Remittances drop in November 2019 —BSP

Money sent in by overseas Filipinos (OFs) registered a drop in November 2019 after reaching a 10-month high the previous month, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday showed.

Personal remittances, or the sum of transfers in cash or in-kind, was registered at $2.639 billion in November 2019.

This is lower than the $2.969 billion in October the same year but higher than the $2.586 billion in November 2018.

Meanwhile, cash remittances—money transfers coursed through banks—rose by 2.0% to $2.372 billion from $2.326 billion in 2018.

Year-to-date, personal remittances were up 4.1% to $30.252 billion, while cash remittances grew 4.4% to $27.231 billion.

"The steady growth in personal remittances during the first 11 months of 2019 drew support from the remittance inflows from land-based OF workers with work contracts of one year or more," the central bank said in an accompanying statement.

"Likewise, the combined remittances of sea-based and land-based workers with short-term contracts rose," it added.

The same was said for cash remittances, with growth driven by OF workers with short-term contracts.

The United States remained to be the biggest source of remittances during the 11-month period, accounting for 37.7%.

It was dollowed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, and Qatar.

Remittances from the said countries accounted for 78.4% of total cash remittances during the period. — BM, GMA News