OFW cash remittances rose to 2-month high in September — BSP

Money transfers from Filipinos abroad saw an increase and grew to a two-month high in September due to growth in remittances from both sea-based and land-based overseas workers, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Tuesday showed.

Cash remittances or money transfers which coursed through banks or formal channels amounted to $2.84 billion, up 3.8% from $2.74 billion in September 2021.

This is the highest since July when cash remittances stood at $2.917 billion.

Month-on-month, cash remittances in September was higher than the $2.721 billion recorded in August.

Sought for comment, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the continued growth in OFW remittances may be attributed to  the need to pay for higher prices or inflation locally for OFWs and their dependents.

The need for more cash to finance more of OFWs’ dependents’ local spending with the further reopening of the economy towards greater normalcy, such as for education in view of the resumption of in-person or face-to-face classes since August, tourism, shopping, leisure, among others, also fueled the higher cash remittances in September, according to Ricafort.

For the January to September period, cash remittances totaled $23.83 billion, up 3.1% from $23.12 billion recorded in the same period last year.

“The expansion in cash remittances in September 2022 was due to the growth in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers,” the BSP said.

“The growth in cash remittances from the United States (US), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Qatar contributed largely to the increase in remittances in the first three quarters of 2022,” the central bank said.

In terms of country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances in the first nine months of 2022, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind via informal channels — reached $3.15 billion, up 4% from $3.03 billion in September 2021.

Year-to-date personal remittances grew by 3.1% to $26.49 billion from $25.70 billion registered in the comparable period in 2021.—AOL, GMA Integrated News