Philippine remittances surge in fastest pace in 8 years

Remittances from overseas Filipinos jumped by 18.4 percent year-on-year to 2.4 billion U.S. dollars in November 2016, the fastest growth since July 2008, the central bank said Monday.

The November level personal remittances brought the cumulative money sent home from abroad for the period January-November 2016 to 26.9 billion U.S. dollars, 5.1 percent higher than a year ago level, Philippine central bank governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said.

"The increase in personal remittances was driven largely by the 7.8-percent expansion in transfers from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more to reach 20.9 billion U.S. dollars," he said.

Personal remittances is the sum of personal transfers and compensation of employees.

The top sources of cash remittances during the month were the United States, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

"Improving global economic conditions, particularly in the U.S., may have contributed to the overall growth in remittances," the central bank said.

The Philippines is one of the world's largest recipients of remittances, with 2.4 million Filipinos working overseas in 2015. The money they send home accounted for nearly 10 percent of its GDP. Endit