Money earned abroad by millions of overseas Filipinos grew 2.5 percent in January this year to $2.895 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said late on Tuesday.
An important source of foreign exchange for the economy, the bulk or $2.668 billion of those earnings were channeled through the banking system and similarly reflected growth averaging 2.5 percent from its year ago level.
“The growth in cash remittances from the United States (US), Japan, and Singapore contributed largely to the increase in remittances in January 2022.
“Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the US registered the highest share of overall remittances at41.2 percent in January 2022, followed by Singapore, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Taiwan, Qatar, and Malaysia.
“The combined remittances from these top ten countries accounted for 79.6 percent of total cash remittances during the period,” the BSP said.
