OFW Remittances in January to February Climb to US$5.6 Billion
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.
- United States
- Singapore
- Japan
- Saudi Arabia
- United Kingdom
- United Arab Emirates
- Qatar
- Canada
- Hong Kong
- 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
