Remittances Rebound As Economies Reopen

Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bounced back strongly in February after a two-month slump as more host countries reopen their economies in line with the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

- Lawrence Agcaoili

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said personal remittances went up by 5.3 percent year-on-year to $2.76 billion in February, reversing the contraction in December and January.

Personal remittances covers all current transfers in cash or in kind as well as other household-to-household transfers between Filipinos who have migrated abroad and their families in the Philippines.

Diokno attributed the increase in personal remittances to the 7.8 percent growth in remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more to $2.15 billion, offsetting the 4.6 percent decline in remittances from sea-based workers and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year to $540 million.

Diokno said this pushed personal remittances to inch up by 1.6 percent to $6.65 billion in the first two months of the year compared to $5.57 billion in the same period last year.