Personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) reached $2.78 billion in May, higher by 2.9 percent than the $2.70 billion registered in the same month last year.

The increase in personal remittances in May was due to higher remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year.

Consequently, personal remittances for the first five months of the year grew by 3.1 percent to $14.46 billion, from $14.02 billion posted in the comparable period in 2022.

Of the personal remittances from OFs, cash remittances coursed through banks rose by 2.8 percent to $2.49 billion in May from the $2.43 billion recorded in the same month last year.

The expansion in cash remittances in May was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers.

On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances reached $12.98 billion, 3.1 percent higher than the year-ago level of $12.59 billion.

The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first five months of 2023.

Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances during the period, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. BSP