MANILA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Personal remittances or the money sent home by overseas Filipinos (OFs) totaled 16.3 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2019, a 2.9 percent growth, from the 15.8 billion U.S. dollars recorded in the same period in 2018, the country's central bank said on Thursday.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said personal remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more grew by 1.8 percent to 12.4 billion U.S. dollars in H1 2019 from 12.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first half in 2018.
Similarly, he said personal remittances from sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts increased by 8.8 percent to 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in H1 2019 from 3.2 billion U.S. dollars in the same period in 2018.
However, on a monthly basis, Diokno said the amount of personal remittances in June 2019 decreased slightly by 2.7 percent to 2.5 billion U.S. dollars from 2.6 billion U.S. dollars in June 2018.
From January to June 2019, Diokno said cash remittances from OFs coursed through banks recorded a 3.2 percent growth to reach 14.6 billion U.S. dollars from 14.2 billion U.S. dollars in the same period last year.
Cash remittances sent by land-based workers rose by 1.8 percent year-on-year to 11.4 billion U.S. dollars, and transfers from sea-based workers grew by 8.7 percent year-on-year to 3.2 billion U.S. dollars, Diokno added.
By source, the BSP said the United States registered the highest share of overall remittances from January to June 2019 at 36.4 percent. It was followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Britain.
The Philippine government estimates the number of OFs at 12 million, accounting for nearly one-tenth of the country's population.
The central bank sees remittances growing by 3 percent this year.
