Philippine remittances up 2.7 pct in January

Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 3.15 billion U.S. dollars in January, recording a year-on-year 2.7 percent increase, the Philippine central bank has said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday night that cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore contributed mainly to the increase in January.

Personal remittances remain a significant source of foreign exchange inflows into the Philippines. According to the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines is among the top 10 global recipients of remittances.

The BSP data showed that personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached an all-time high of 37.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, 3 percent higher than the amount recorded in 2022. The full-year 2023 remittances represented 8.5 percent and 7.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and gross national income, respectively. (BSS/Xinhua)