Money sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at the start of the so-called “ber” months this year hit its lowest volume in 12 months, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
The BSP reported on Thursday that total cash remittance in September hit $2.237 billion, growing by 2.3 percent from its volume in the same month last year at $2.186 billion.
While September 2018’s remittance flow registered growth from the previous year, it is the lowest monthly volume of remittances in 12 months, or since September last year.
The muted cash remittance flow for the month brought the total nine-month remittance cash inflow to $21.294 billion, up 2.5 percent from the $20.781 billion in the same January-to-September period last year.
The BSP projects remittances to grow by 4 percent on average for 2018. This means that to achieve this projection, money from Filipino migrant workers must post a monthly growth rate of 8.5 percent in the last quarter of the year.
BSP Officer in Charge Maria Almasara Cyd Tuano-Amador said over the nine-month period, cash remittance from both land-based and sea-based workers grew during the period.
Remittances from land-based workers, in particular, grew 2.2 percent to hit $16.8 billion, while those from sea-based workers grew 3.5 percent to hit $4.5 billion.
By country source, more than 79 percent of the total cash remittance for the first nine months of the year came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany and Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the countries that contributed to the increase in remittances in September this year are Canada, the United States and Taiwan.
Remittances are expected to spike toward the end of the year as the holiday season approaches. This also provides support for the projected strength of the peso by year-end.
Also, remittances make up for about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.