Philippine remittances up by 3.3 pct in September

MANILA, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 3.34 billion U.S. dollars in September 2024, 3.3 percent higher than the 3.23 billion dollars recorded in September 2023, the Philippine central bank said Friday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the cumulative personal remittances rose by 3 percent to 28.07 billion dollars in January-September 2024, from 27.24 billion dollars recorded in the same period in 2023.
The BSP said the growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first nine months of 2024.
Personal remittances remain a vital source of foreign exchange inflow into the Southeast Asian country. According to the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines is among the top 10 global recipients of remittances. There are an estimated 10 million Filipinos living overseas.
The BSP data showed that personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached an all-time high of 37.2 billion dollars in 2023, 3 percent higher than the amount recorded in 2022. The full-year 2023 remittances represented 8.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. ■