FILIPINO migrant workers still managed to send more money back home in February this year, despite the reimposition of lockdowns due to the resurgence of the cases during the month. The growth in remittances, however, is the slowest recorded in more than a year, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
The Central Bank reported on Monday that cash remittances coursed through banks hit $2.509 billion in February this year, up by 1.3 percent from $2.476 billion registered in the same month in 2021.
The growth, however, was the slowest monthly remittance growth for the country since January 2021, when it contracted by 1.7 percent.
The BSP said the growth was slower due in part to the reimposition of restrictions in overseas Filipino host countries and the Philippines amid a resurgence in Covid-19 cases across the globe.
For the first two months of the year, cash remittance grew by 1.9 percent or $5.177 billion. The January to February cash remittance inflow in 2021 was at $5.078 billion.
Broken down, both land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and sea-based OFWs were able to grow their remittances in February this year. In particular, land-based OFWs’ remittances increased by 1.2 percent from $1.983 billion to $2.007 billion while sea-based workers grew theirs by 1.6 percent from $493 million to $501 million.
The BSP also said the growth in cash remittances from the United States, Japan, and Singapore contributed largely to the increase in remittances in the first two months of 2022.
Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the US registered the highest share of overall remittances at 41.6 percent in January-February 2022, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Taiwan, Qatar, and Malaysia.
The combined remittances from these top 10 countries accounted for 79.3 percent of total cash remittances during the period.
Economists have flagged the role of remittances in keeping the economy afloat especially during the pandemic, particularly through its power to increase local consumer spending, support the local currency through steady dollar inflows and add to the country’s gross international reserves (GIR).
Image credits: Nonie Reyes