Remittance inflows slipped to three-month low in August — BSP

Remittances from overseas Filipinos fell to a three-month low in August, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday showed.

Cash remittances or money transfers coursed through banks stood at $2.721 billion, the lowest since $2.425 billion worth of remittances came in in May.

This is lower than the $2.917 billion in July, but higher than the $2.609 billion recorded in August 2021.

Year-to-date cash remittances climbed by 3.0% to $20.985 billion from $20.380 billion in the first eight months of 2021, due mainly to higher receipts from land-based and sea-based workers.

The United States accounted for 41.7% for cash remittances, followed by Singapore with 6.9%, Saudi Arabia with 5.8%, and Japan with 4.9%.

These were followed by the United Kingdom with 4.9%, the United Arab Emirates with 4.1%, Canada with 3.5%, Qatar with 2.8%, Taiwan with 2.7%, and South Korea with 2.6%.

Personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind via informal channels — were recorded at $3.017 billion, also the lowest in three months since May’s $2.705 billion.

This compares with $3.240 billion in July, and $2.889 billion in the same month last year.

The central bank attributed the growth to higher receipts from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts less than a year.

Year-to-date personal remittances increased by 3.0% to $23.343 billion from $22.672 billion in the January to August period last year. — RSJ, GMA News