Figures form the bank show that such remittances posted a double-digit growth rate of 11% in March to $2.3 billion, compared to the $2.1 billion registered in the same period last year.
Read: FDI up 17.9% in February 2015
The March figure subsequently accelerated cumulative remittances in 2015 to 5.1% from 2.1% in the first two months of the year. The level for the first quarter of the year stands at approximately $6.4 billion.
In a statement, the BSP said that the double-digit growth for March was driven by “robust inflows from land-based workers with contracts of one year or more (5.3%), as well as sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year (6.1%).”
Similarly, cash remittances from OFWs coursed though banks posted a year-on-year growth of 11.3% to $2.1 billion in March. At $5.8 billion, total cash remittances for the first quarter of 2015 are 5.5% higher compared to the same period last year.
The central bank noted the cash remittances from land-based ($4.4 billion) and sea-based ($1.4 billion) workers expanded by 5.3% and 6.1%, respectively. The U.S., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the U.K, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and Canada were the primary sources of such funds.
Citing figures from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the BSP said that remittances were strong on account of sustained demand for Filipino manpower overseas.
According to POEA data, approved job orders reached 243,045 for the first three months of the year.
Of that number, 31.2% were processed job orders that were intended mainly for service, production, and professional, technical and related workers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
A total of 519,029 contracts were processed for the first quarter of 2015, according to POEA.
Related: Government looking to fill more than 3,000 vacancies
The BSP said that, as of the end of March, the combined number commercial banks’ established tie-ups, remittance centers, correspondent banks and branches or representative offices abroad reached 4,840. The figure is higher than the 4,771 during the first three months of last year.
“[T]the initiatives of banks and nonbank remittance service providers to expand their international and domestic market coverage through tie-ups abroad as well as the introduction of innovations in their remittance products continued to provide support to the steady flow of remittances.
(CNN Philippines) — Personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) last March notched their highest growth in 15 months, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr.
