Lowest in 11 months
MANILA, Philippines — Dollars sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached $2.86 billion in April, up by 3.1 percent from the same month last year, but the latest figure was the lowest level in 11 months, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
Data showed that personal remittances in April grew by 3.1 percent year on year from the $2.77 billion in the same month last year. It marked the fastest growth since the 3.9-percent rise in December 2023.
However, the sum of net compensation of employees, personal transfers and capital transfers between households in April was the lowest in 11 months or since the $2.78 billion in May last year.
Nonetheless, the BSP said the 3.1-percent increase was brought about by the three percent rise in remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, to $2.1 billion in April.
Similarly, remittances from sea and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year grew by 3.6 percent to $620 million.
For the four-month period of 2024, personal remittances inched up by 2.8 percent to $12.01 billion from $11.68 billion in the same period a year ago.
Of the total, cash remittances coursed through banks went up by 3.1 percent to $2.56 billion in April from $2.49 billion in the same month last year. It was also the lowest level since the $2.49 billion recorded in May 2023.
Still, at 3.1 percent, the growth rate in cash remittances was the fastest in four months or since the 3.8 percent in December last year.
The BSP also reported a 2.8-percent rise in cash remittances to $10.78 billion from January to April compared to $10.49 billion in the same period a year prior.
“The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia and Singapore contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first four months of 2024,” the BSP said.
In terms of the country sources, the US posted the biggest share of overall remittances with 41.2 percent, followed by Singapore with seven percent and Saudi Arabia with six percent.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the modest single-digit growth in remittances would continue to support consumer spending in the Philippines.
In the coming months, he said that OFWs may continue to send more money home as dependents still need to cope with higher prices of goods and services in the country.
He also noted that there might be a seasonal increase in OFW remittances to fund school tuition around July to August.
However, risks of economic slowdown in the US and in other countries may become a drag on remittances this year, especially if there would be job losses for some OFWs.
The BSP sees both personal and cash remittances increasing by three percent this year.