MANILA, Philippines – Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos grew 2.6% to $3.13 billion in March despite calls for a “zero remittance week” that month, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show.
This brings cumulative remittances in the first three months of the year to $9.4 billion, 2.7% higher than the same period in 2024.
Filipinos overseas mostly sent money home through banks, as cash remittances increased 2.6% year on year to $2.81 billion.
Remittances from the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were the main growth drivers this month.
Money sent from US banks also accounted for the largest share of cash remittances.
The US appears to be the main source of overseas Filipino remittrances since the common practice of remittance centers abroad is to course the remittances through correspondent banks, most of which are in the US.
Around 4.2 million Filipinos live in the US, which is the top destination of Filipino migrants. The US accounted for roughly 40% of the 10 million Filipinos overseas in 2022, followed by Saudi Arabia (9.6%) and Malaysia (8.8%), according to the Foreign Service Institute-Department of Foreign Affairs.
The peso strengthened to a four-month high of P57.42 against the US dollar that month.
Some overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) called for a “zero remittance week” between March 28 and April 4 to protest the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes against humanity committed during his bloody drug war.
However, economists downplayed its impact on the Philippine economy since the country’s reserves are more than enough to cover losses. They also pointed out that the move will only hurt OFWs’ families back home the most.
Preliminary BSP data show that the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) stood at $104.6 billion.
While the latest GIR level is lower than March’s $106.7 billion, the BSP said it can cover 7.2 months of imports, primary income and payment of goods and services. – Rappler.com