TIM eMagazine Volume 2 Issue 3 | Page 62

Business

Personal Remittances for the First Quarter of 2017 Up by 8.1 Percent

P ersonal remittances from Overseas Filipinos ( OFs ) grew by 11.8 percent year-on-year , reaching a new record high of US $ 2.9 billion in March 2017 . This brought the total remittances for the first quarter of 2017 to US $ 7.7 billion , higher by 8.1 percent than the level posted in the same period a year ago , BSP Governor Amando M . Tetangco , Jr . announced today . 1 The increase in personal remittances during the first quarter of the year was driven by the 10.5 percent growth in transfers from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more , making up for the 2.0 percent decrease in remittances from sea-based and landbased workers with work contracts of less than one year .

Meanwhile , cash remittances from OFs coursed through banks rose by 10.7 percent year-on-year in March 2017 , aggregating US $ 2.6 billion . Remittances sent by land-based workers ( at US $ 2.1 billion ) and sea-based workers ( at US $ 0.5 billion ) increased by 12.8 percent and 3.4 percent , respectively , compared to the levels in the same month a year ago . The primary contributors to the growth in remittances during the month are the United States ( with 3.9 percentage points contribution to the 10.7 percent aggregate growth ), Canada and United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) ( each contributing 2.1 percentage points ), Japan ( 1.0 percentage point ), and Hong Kong ( 0.8 percentage point ).
As a result , cash remittances for the first quarter of 2017 rose to US $ 7.0 billion , up by 7.7 percent relative to the same period a year ago . Cash remittances from land-based workers grew by 10.4 percent ( to US $ 5.6 billion ), compensating for the 2.0 percent decrease in sea-based workers ’ transfers ( to US $ 1.4 billion ). Almost 80 percent of the cash remittances for the first quarter of 2017 came from the United States , Saudi Arabia , UAE , Singapore , Japan , United Kingdom , Qatar , Kuwait , Hong Kong and Canada .
1The BSP started to release data on personal remittances in June 2012 . As defined in the Balance of Payments Manual , 6th Edition ( BPM6 ), personal remittances represent the sum of net compensation of employees ( i . e ., gross earnings of overseas Filipino workers ( OFW ) with work contracts of less than one year , including all sea-based workers , less taxes , social contributions , and transportation and travel expenditures in their host countries ), personal transfers ( i . e ., all current transfers in cash or in kind by OF workers with work contracts of one year or more as well as other household-to-household transfers between Filipinos who have migrated abroad and their families in the Philippines ), and capital transfers between households ( i . e ., the provision of resources for capital purposes , such as for construction of residential houses , between resident and non-resident households without anything of economic value being supplied in return ).
Overseas Filipinos ' ( OF ) Remittances for the periods indicated
Levels ( in Million US Dollars ) Growth Rates Year-on-Year (%) Personal Remittances Cash Remittances * Personal Remittances Cash Remittances
Monthly Cumulative Monthly Cumulative Monthly Cumulative Monthly Cumulative
2012
Jan
1,712
1,712
1,557
1,557
6.4
6.4
5.4
5.4
Feb
1,743
3,454
1,587
3,144
6.6
6.5
5.8
5.6
Mar
1,864
5,318
1,698
4,842
5.7
6.2
5
5.4
Apr
1,871
7,189
1,701
6,543
6.3
6.2
5.3
5.4
May
1,948
9,137
1,774
8,317
5.9
6.2
5.1
5.3
Jun
1,989
11,127
1,811
10,128
4.7
5.9
4.2
5.1
Jul
1,967
13,093
1,809
11,936
5.3
5.8
5.4
5.2
Aug
1,955
15,048
1,797
13,733
7.4
6
7.6
5.5
Sep
2,000
17,048
1,838
15,571
5.8
6
5.9
5.5
Oct
2,096
19,145
1,928
17,499
8.3
6.2
8.5
5.8
Nov
2,087
21,232
1,918
19,417
7.5
6.4
7.6
6
Dec
2,120
23,352
1,975
21,391
8.2
6.5
9.7
6.3
2013
Jan
1,874
1,874
1,699
1,699
9.5
9.5
9.1
9.1
Feb
1,881
3,755
1,700
3,399
8
8.7
7.1
8.1
Mar
1,954
5,709
1,768
5,167
4.8
7.4
4.2
6.7
Apr
2,019
7,728
1,819
6,986
7.9
7.5
6.9
6.8
May
2,081
9,809
1,879
8,865
6.8
7.4
5.9
6.6
Jun
2,122
11,931
1,935
10,800
6.7
7.2
6.8
6.6
Jul
2,132
14,063
1,946
12,746
8.4
7.4
7.6
6.8
Aug
2,122
16,185
1,938
14,684
8.6
7.6
7.9
6.9
Sep
2,155
18,341
1,953
16,637
7.7
7.6
6.2
6.8
Oct
2,305
20,646
2,083
18,720
9.9
7.8
8.1
7
Nov
2,310
22,956
2,084
20,805
10.7
8.1
8.7
7.1
Dec
2,413
25,369
2,179
22,984
13.8
8.6
10.4
7.4
2014
Jan
2,074
2,074
1,865
1,865
10.7
10.7
9.8
9.8
Feb
1,989
4,063
1,791
3,656
5.7
8.2
5.3
7.6
Mar
2,285
6,347
2,063
5,719
16.9
11.2
16.6
10.7
Apr
2,215
8,562
1,998
7,717
9.7
10.8
9.8
10.5
May
2,172
10,735
1,959
9,676
4.4
9.4
4.3
9.1
Jun
2,226
12,960
2,009
11,685
4.9
8.6
3.8
8.2
Jul
2,350
15,311
2,125
13,810
10.2
8.9
9.2
8.3
Aug
2,224
17,535
2,007
15,817
4.8
8.3
3.6
7.7
Sep
2,437
19,972
2,205
18,022
13.1
8.9
12.9
8.3
Oct
2,495
22,467
2,258
20,280
8.3
8.8
8.4
8.3
Nov
2,206
24,673
1,993
22,274
-4.5
7.5
-4.4
7.1
Dec
2,599
27,273
2,354
24,628
7.7
7.5
8
7.2
2015
Jan
2,134
2,134
1,927
1,927
2.9
2.9
3.3
3.3
Feb
2,143
4,277
1,936
3,863
7.7
5.3
8.1
5.7
Mar
2,644
6,920
2,394
6,257
15.7
9
16.1
9.4
Apr
2,292
9,212
2,070
8,327
3.5
7.6
3.6
7.9
May
2,287
11,500
2,068
10,395
5.3
7.1
5.5
7.4
Jun
2,458
13,958
2,227
12,622
10.5
7.7
10.9
8
Jul
2,490
16,447
2,253
14,874
5.9
7.4
6
7.7
Aug
2,205
18,653
1,994
16,868
-0.8
6.4
-0.6
6.6
Sep
2,469
21,122
2,234
19,103
1.3
5.8
1.3
6
Oct
2,392
23,514
2,164
21,266
-4.1
4.7
-4.2
4.9
Nov
2,068
25,582
1,871
23,137
-6.2
3.7
-6.2
3.9
Dec
2,726
28,308
2,470
25,607
4.9
3.8
4.9
4
2016
Jan
2,208
2,208
1,997
1,997
3.4
3.4
3.6
3.6
Feb
2,320
4,528
2,098
4,095
8.3
5.9
8.4
6
Mar
2,606
7,134
2,362
6,457
-1.4
3.1
-1.4
3.2
Apr
2,443
9,577
2,213
8,670
6.6
4
6.9
4.1
May
2,416
11,993
2,188
10,859
5.7
4.3
5.8
4.5
Jun
2,575
14,569
2,334
13,192
4.8
4.4
4.8
4.5
Jul
2,355
16,923
2,131
15,323
-5.4
2.9
-5.4
3
Aug
2,559
19,482
2,319
17,642
16
4.4
16.3
4.6
Sep
2,626
22,108
2,383
20,025
6.3
4.7
6.7
4.8
Oct
2,326
24,434
2,099
22,124
-2.8
3.9
-3
4
Nov
2,448
26,883
2,217
24,341
18.4
5.1
18.5
5.2
Dec
2,823
29,706
2,559
26,900
3.6
4.9
3.6
5
2017 p /
Jan
2,396
2,396
2,169
2,169
8.5
8.5
8.6
8.6
Feb
2,397
4,794
2,169
4,338
3.3
5.9
3.4
5.9
Mar
2,915
7,709
2,615
6,953
11.8
8.1
10.7
7.7
p / Preliminary * Remittances coursed through banks Details may not add up to total due to rounding .
Note : Personal remittances is computed as the sum of net compensation of employees ( i . e ., gross earnings of overseas Filipino ( OF ) workers with work contracts of less than one year , including all sea-based workers , less taxes , social contributions , and transportation and travel
expenditures in their host countries ), personal transfers ( i . e ., all current transfers in cash or in kind by OF workers with work contracts of one year or more as well as other household-to-household transfers between Filipinos who have migrated abroad and their families in the Philippines ) and capital transfers between households ( i . e ., the provision of resources for capital formation purposes , such as for construction of residential houses , between resident and non-resident households without anything of economic value being supplied in return ).

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