By Kathleen A. Martin (The Philippine
Star) | Updated March 18, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Remittances from
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) went up 6.8 percent in January from a year
ago, driven largely by sustained demand for skilled and professional manpower
overseas, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.
Personal remittances – cash and
non-cash – amounted to $2.002 billion in January, 6.8 percent higher than last
year’s $1.874 billion.
“Remittance flows from overseas
Filipinos remained resilient, underpinned by the sustained demand for Filipino
manpower overseas, particularly skilled workers,” the BSP said.
Cash remittances from both land and
sea-based workers went up 5.9 percent to $1.799 billion in January from $1.699
billion a year ago.
However, the latest cash inflow was 17
percent lower than the $2.173 billion recorded in December as the level of
remittances “typically drops” after the holidays, the central bank said.
The central bank, citing data from the
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, said there were 75,348 approved
job orders in January of which 32.1 percent or 24,187 were processed.
The processed job orders were for
service, production, and professional, technical, and related jobs in Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Kuwait, and Qatar.
At the same time, the expansion of
bank and non-bank remittance service providers abroad supported the growth in
remittances.
The BSP said remittances from
land-based workers increased 4.9 percent to $1.3 billion in January, while
those from sea-based workers jumped 9.1 percent to $450 million.
“Cash remittances during the month
came mostly from the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United
Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, and Canada,” the central bank said.
Last year, cash remittances surged 10
percent to $22.968 billion, the highest ever recorded by the central bank.
Personal remittances, meanwhile, grew 8.6 percent to $25.351 billion.
The robust inflows of remittances was
due to the steady deployment of Filipino workers abroad. Data from the POEA
showed 1.8 million Filipinos were sent abroad for work in 2013.
Remittances, which supports domestic
consumption, made up 8.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product last
year.
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