By Ted P. Torres (The Philippine Star)
| Updated November 18, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Remittances from
overseas Filipino workers amounted to $2.3 billion in September, rising 8.1
percent relative to the comparable period last year, the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas said yesterday.
In a report, the central bank said for
the first nine months of the year, personal remittances amounted to $19.6
billion, representing a 6.7-percent year-on-year growth.
BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr.
said the growth in remittances was driven by the steady increase in transfers
from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more (5.4 percent),
and sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year
(8.2 percent).
Meanwhile, remittances coursed through
banks increased 7.9 percent to $2.1 billion in September, totaling $17.6 billion
in the nine-month period or a 6.1 percent growth compared to $16.6 billion in
the same period last year.
The leading sources of money transfers
are the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United
Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and Canada.
Remittances from land-based and
sea-based workers grew 5.4 percent (to $13.5 billion) and 8.3 percent (to $4.2
billion), respectively, attributed mainly to the sustained demand for skilled
Filipino manpower overseas.
Based on preliminary reports from the
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for the period January to
September 2014, job orders reached 680,392, of which 43.1 percent were
processed job orders intended for service, production and professional,
technical and related workers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Taiwan and
Qatar.
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