Personal remittances rose to $2.55 billion from $2.32 billion a year ago, up 9.7 percent and recovering from September’s five-month low of $2.44 billion. Year to date, OFW remittances were up 5.2 percent at $25.71 billion. For the first 10 months of 2017, cash remittances reached $23.0.5 billion, a 4.2-percent increase compared to the $22.12 billion registered in the same period in 2016. The result was boosted by higher remittances from land-based workers and sea-based workers, which both grew by 4.2 percent compared to year-ago level, the BSP said. Cash remittances from the United States, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Kuwait, Germany and Hong Kong comprised about 80.2 percent of total cash remittances in the first 10 months of 2017.

Source: Manila Times December 15, 2017 18:00 UTC