Cash remittances up 2.9% in May

Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) rose by an annual 2.9% in May, although the monthly haul was the lowest in 12 months, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

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Cash remittances coursed through banks jumped by 2.9% to $2.658 billion in May from $2.583 billion in the same month a year ago, the central bank said on Tuesday.

It was also the lowest level of monthly remittances in 12 months or since May 2024.

May remittance growth also slowed from the 4% pace in April, when cash remittances reached $2.664 billion.

Money sent home by land-based workers went up by 2.8% to $2.12 billion in May from $2.06 billion in the same month a year ago.

Remittances from sea-based migrant workers jumped by an annual 3.1% to $536 million in May.

“The increase in cash remittances drove an increase in personal remittances as well,” the BSP said.

Personal remittances, which include inflows in kind, rose by 3% to $2.97 billion in May from $2.88 billion in the previous year.

Broken down, remittances from workers with contracts of a year or more increased by 2.8% to $2.29 billion, while those with contracts of less than a year jumped by 3.4% to $590 million.

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