OFW remittances rose 5.9% to $1.8B in January — BSP

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MANILA, Philippines — Money transfers by migrants rose faster than expected in January amid strong demand for Filipino labor and as workers sent home more cash to fund the reconstruction of areas affected by typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan).

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday also reported revisions in 2013 remittance numbers, which showed that cash transfers rose by 7.4 percent, better than the 6.4 percent previously reported.

“The solid growth of remittances is expected to provide support to the continued strength of the current account,” the BSP said in a statement.

For January alone, remittances reached $1.8 billion, rising by 5.9 percent over the same period last year. Revised numbers for last year showed remittances in December rose by 10 percent to $2.17 billion.

“It should be pointed out that the level of remittances typically drops after the year-end holiday season,” the BSP said, explaining the lower inflows in January compared to December.

Cash remittances came mainly from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan and Canada.