“The expansion in cash remittances in July 2022 was due to the growth in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers,” according to the BSP. Specifically, these are land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, as well as sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year.

Land-based overseas Filipinos sent home $2.36 billion in July only, up by 2.5 percent from $2.31 billion same time in 2021, while sea-based workers remitted $552 million, up by 1.3 percent from $545 million.

Bulk of cash remittances in the first seven months came from the US, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Qatar. However as BSP always explain, remittance centers with US-based correspondent banks will tag the US as the source of these remittances. The US accounted for 41.4 percent of cash remittances for the period.

The BSP reported that personal remittances, which are not coursed through the banking networks, were recorded at $20.33 billion as of end-July. This was 2.7 percent more than same period last year of $19.78 billion.

BSP defines personal remittances as the sum of the net compensation of overseas Filipinos, personal transfers and capital transfers between households.

For the month of July only, personal remittances rose by 2.3 percent to $3.24 billion from $3.17 billion. Land-based workers remitted $2.57 billion for the month of July, up 2.4 percent from $2.51 billion in July 2021. Sea-based workers sent home $600 million, up 1.4 percent from $590 million.

The central bank expects cash remittances to increase by four percent this year.

In 2021, cash remittances increased by 5.1 percent year-on-year to a record high of $31.42 billion but was off the expected six percent growth for the year.