Remittances hit new high in Nov

MANILA, Philippines - Remittances posted a new record high in November last year as  demand for Filipino workers abroad continued to rise, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

Money sent home by Filipinos abroad grew 7.5 percent to $2.063 billion in November last year from $1.918 billion in the same month in 2012.

The figure was also higher than October last year’s $2.062 billion.

The central bank earlier said remittances are expected to rise significantly in November and December due to increased financial aid for survivors of natural calamities that hit the country last year.

BSP officials said Filipinos abroad will likely send more money to their families for rebuilding efforts as billions-of-pesos-worth of infrastructure were destroyed by the 7.1-magnitude earthquake in October and Typhoon Yolanda in November.

Cash remittances went up 6.1 percent to $20.605 billion in the first 11 months last year from $19.417 billion in 2012.

“The steady deployment of OF (overseas Filipino) workers remained the key driver of growth in remittance flows for the first eleven months of the year,” the BSP said.

Citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the central bank said approved job orders reached 731,254 in January to November last year.

The bulk or 43.2 percent of said job orders went to services, production, and professional, technical, and related workers. These were intended for manpower requirements in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Qatar.

The central bank noted remittances from land-based workers went up 5.5 percent to $15.8 billion in the eleven months to November, while those from sea-based workers expanded 8.2 percent to $4.8 billion.

“The major sources of cash remittances were the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Canada, and Japan,” the BSP said.

At the same time, the BSP said the continued expansion of local banks’ services abroad has supported the sustained inflow of remittances to the country.

The central bank expects remittances growing by five percent in 2013 over 2012’s $21.391 billion.