According to Bangko Sentral ng Philipinas (BSP), the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) remittance increased at a fast pace due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 this January 2020.
Remittance
The sum of money being sent, generally to someplace abroad. money. Can refer to moving money by any method . Either a wire transfer, online transfer, by mail or using a credit or debit card. While the payment could be to settle an invoice from a supplier, to pay an employee, or to support family back home.
Personal remittances
Is the sum of personal transfers and compensation of employees.
The data released by BSP, showed that the personal remittances went up by 7.3 percent which is equivalent to $2.94 billion this January. Compared from $2.74 billion last year of the same month.
A fast growth since last October 2019. Personal remittances increased by 7.7 percent, which consisting of cash and non-cash items that flow through both formal or via electronic wire and informal channels.
From land-based OFWs with a contract of one year, rose by 7.4 percent to $2.27 billion from $2.12 billion in personal remittance. While remittances from sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than a year expanded by nearly four percent to $600 million from $580 million.
Personal transfers include all current transfers in cash or in kind between resident and nonresident individuals, independent of the source of income of the sender (and regardless of whether the sender receives income from labor, entrepreneurial or property income, social benefits, and any other types of transfers.
Compensation of Employees refers to the income of border, seasonal, and other short-term workers who are employed in an economy where they are not resident and of residents employed by nonresident entities.
Cash Remittance
Likewise, the BSP said cash remittances coursed through banks increased by 6.6 percent to $2.65 billion in January from $2.48 billion in the same month last year. This was the fastest growth since the eight percent increase recorded in October last year.
Data showed cash remittances from land-based OFWs went up by 7.4 percent to $2.1 billion, while that of sea-based Filipino workers increased by 3.8 percent to $550 million.
The BSP said the US registered the highest share of overall remittances at 38.6 percent, followed by Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Canada, Hong Kong and South Korea.
For 2020, the BSP sees OFW remittances, both personal and cash, growing by three percent. However, the projection set in November has yet to factor in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the BSP official said remittances would remain resilient as a major source of foreign exchange.
Source: philstar.com, transferwise.com, datahelpdesk.worldbank.org
Photo Source: philstar.com, imoney.ph, abs-cbn
