OFW remittances up 7.2% in Aug

MANILA, Philippines - Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) continued to rise in August as the country continued to enjoy strong demand abroad for its skilled labor.

In a report, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said personal remittances – cash and non-cash – climbed 7.2 percent to $2.274 billion in August from $2.122 billion in the same month last year.

This brought the eight-month total to $17.232 billion, 6.5 percent higher than the $16.185 billion recorded in the same period in 2013.

Cash remittances alone went up six percent to $2.053 billion in August, bringing the eight-month figure to $15.538 billion.

Money sent home by land-based workers rose 5.2 percent to $11.8 billion, while those remitted by sea-based workers rose eight percent to $3.7 billion.

The BSP said the bulk of the cash remittances were sent from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Canada, and Hong Kong.

“The strong demand for skilled Filipino workers overseas remained a key driver in the sustained growth of remittance flows,” the BSP said.

Citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the central bank said job orders reached 619,388 in the eight months to August.

More than a third of these job orders were for service, production, and professional, technical, and related work in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Taiwan, and Qatar.

At the same time, the BSP said the continued efforts of banks to expand their remittance channels abroad supported the inflow of remittances during the period.

Cash remittances last year amounted to $22.968 billion, the highest annual level recorded so far. The BSP hopes to grow this by five percent this year.

Remittances support domestic consumption, the largest driver of the Philippine economy.