Remittances grow by 0.5% in January

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MANILA — Remittances from Filipinos living and working abroad increased by 0.5 percent to $1.814 billion in January from $1.804 billion in the same period last year.

The figure posts the slowest pace of growth since the expansion to 0.1 percent in January 2009.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas yesterday said that cash remittances from land-based workers abroad amounted to .

4 billion.

Meanwhile, remittances from sea-based workers amounted to $500 million.

Most of the funds were sent from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Canada.

“Continued demand for skilled Filipino manpower contributed to the steady inflow of remittances,” the BSP said.

“Moreover, the continued efforts of bank and non-bank remittance service providers to expand their international and domestic market coverage through their network of remittance business partners worldwide provide support to steady remittance flows,” the central bank added.