Remittances to climb steady this year — ING

MANILA, Philippines — Dutch financial giant ING Bank said inflows from Filipinos living and working abroad continued to outpace the growth target set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In its latest Asia economic calendar, ING Bank said remittances from overseas Filipino workers likely climbed 5.3 percent in November last year, outpacing the revised target set by the central bank

The BSP is looking at a three percent growth for remittances for 2018 and 2019, lower than the previous target of four percent.

Aside from beefing up the country’s foreign exchange buffer, remittances usually fuel personal consumption helping sustain a steady economic growth. The amount of money sent home by overseas Filipinos usually accounts for 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Latest data released by the BSP showed personal remittances, consisting of cash and non-cash items that flow through both formal or via electronic wire and informal channels such as money or goods carried across borders, rose  eight percent to $2.76 billion in October last year.

On the other hand, cash remittances coursed through banks increased 8.7 percent to $2.47 billion.

For the first 10 months, personal remittances inched up 2.9 percent to $26.47 billion.

Cash remittances climbed 3.1 percent to $23.77 billion.

Remittances came primarily from the US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong.

The amount of money sent home by Filipinos abroad usually pick up during the ‘ber’ months or the start of the fourth quarter ahead of the celebration of Christmas.