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OFW Remittances in January to February Climb to US$5.6 Billion

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported increased OFW remittances in February 2020 at US$2.62 billion, which is 2.6% higher than what was previously recorded in February 2019.

May 18, 2020 – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported increased OFW remittances in February 2020 at US$2.62 billion, which is 2.6% higher than what was previously recorded in February 2019.

On a year-to-date basis (2020), the BSP recorded the following data:

  • Remittances for the first 2 months grew by 5% (US$5.56 billion).
    • Previous year’s level is US$5.302 billion
  • Personal remittances from land-based workers with more than 1 year of work contracts increased to US$2 billion.
    • 3.5% higher than US$1.9 billion recorded in February 2019.
  • Remittances from sea-based and land-based workers with less than 1-year contracts declined by 0.9%.
    • US$0.56 billion from US$0.57 billion in February 2019.

Cash is still king, as cash remittances coursed through banks increased by 2.5% (US$2.36 billion vs US$2.3 billion in February 2019.) Cash remittances from January – February 2020 is at US$5 billion, a 4.6% increase vs last year (US$4.8 billion).

Here are the top 10 countries identified as top sources of remittances.

  1. United States
  2. Singapore
  3. Japan
  4. Saudi Arabia
  5. United Kingdom
  6. United Arab Emirates
  7. Qatar
  8. Canada
  9. Hong Kong
  10. Korea

The US accounted for 39% of all remittance while the entire 10 countries above represent 79.4%  of all total remittances.

The BSP notes that data for the US may be skewed because a common practice of remittance centers globally is to course remittances through correspondent banks which are mostly located in the US.

Read the BSP media release here.

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This article is published on BitPinas: OFW Remittances in January to February Clim to US$5.6 Billion

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