Personal Remittances Up by 9.5% in November 2013
Manila–(PHStocks)–Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)–Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos (OFs) rose by 9.5 percent year-on-year in November 2013 to reach the highest level to date of $2.286 billion. This marks the eighth consecutive month in 2013 that personal remittances breached the $2 billion mark, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr.
On a year-to-date basis, personal remittances from OFs in January-November 2013 grew by 7.1 percent from the previous year’s level to $22.7 billion. The steady increase in personal remittances during the eleven-month period was driven largely by the 5.5 percent increase in remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, accounting for more than three-fourths (75.6 percent) of total transfers for the said period. Transfers from sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts likewise rose by 8.2 percent. Other household-to-household transfers comprising largely of cash transfers from Filipinos who have migrated abroad also rose significantly.
Similarly, cash remittances from OFs coursed through banks rose by 7.5 percent year-on-year to $2.063 billion in November, exceeding the record-high level of $2.062 billion posted in October. For the period January-November 2013, cash remittances totaled $20.6 billion, 6.1 percent higher than the level registered in the same period in 2012. Cash transfers from both land-based ($15.8 billion) and sea-based workers ($4.8 billion) grew by 5.5 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. The major sources of cash remittances were the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Canada, and Japan.
The steady deployment of OF workers remained the key driver of growth in remittance flows for the first eleven months of the year. Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) indicated that approved job orders totaled 731,254 for January-November 2013, of which about two-fifths (43.2 percent) were processed job orders mainly for services, production, and professional, technical, and related workers.
The said job orders were intended for the manpower requirements of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Qatar. Moreover, the presence of bank and non-bank service providers in foreign countries through tie-ups and remittance centers continue to provide support to the sustained flow of remittances into the country.