Remittances rebound in March

Remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos rebounded in March from the nine-month low recorded in the previous month, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday showed.

Cash remittances or money transfers coursed through banks or formal channels were recorded at $2.671 billion, higher than the $2.569 billion in February and the $2.594 billion the same month last year.

This brought the first-quarter cash remittances to $8.002 billion, 3% higher than the $7.771 billion recorded in the first three months of 2022.

“The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first quarter of 2023,” the BSP said in an accompanying statement.

The United States posted the highest share of overall remittances during the period with 41.4%, followed by Singapore with 7.3%, Saudi Arabia with 5.8%, Japan with 5.1%, and the United Kingdom with 4.4%.

The United Arab Emirates accounted for 4.2%, followed by Canada with 3.1%, Qatar with 2.7%, Taiwan with 2.7%, Hong Kong with 2.5%, and other countries with 20.9%.

Meanwhile, personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash of in-kind via informal channels — hit $2.973 billion in March, up 3.0% from $2.888 billion in March 2022, and up from $2.860 billion in February.

Year-to-date personal remittances also climbed 3% to $8.905 billion from $8.646 billion.—AOL, GMA Integrated News