By Lee C. Chipongian

Cash remittances sent through the banking networks rose by 2.7 percent year-on-year to $14.18 billion for the first six months of the year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday, citing the government’s repatriation program as part of the reason for the modest increase.

The first half cash remittances transferred by land-based workers (LBWs) and sea-based workers (SBWs) were up by 2.5 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, to $11.2 billion and $3 billion.

For the month of June only, bank-channeled remittances however decreased by 4.5 percent year-on-year to $2.38 billion from $2.47 billion in 2017. It was also down compared to May’s turnout, which amounted to $2.47 billion as well.

According to the BSP, “the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) repatriation program of the government may have partly affected the remittance flows for the month.”

During the first two months of 2018, a total of 4,149 OFWs were repatriated from United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. “Furthermore, for 2017, preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that the number of deployed LBWs dropped by 3.28 percent (or 1,614,674) year-on-year, while that of the SBWs fell by 14.62 percent (or 378,072),” the BSP said.

These countries accounted for the biggest declines in remittances: UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, added the BSP.

Cash remittances coming from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Kingdom, UAE, Japan, Qatar, Germany, Hong Kong and Canada accounted for more than 79 percent of total cash remittances for the first six months of 2018.

As for personal remittances, as of end-June this went up by 2.8 percent to $15.79 billion from $15.36 billion same time in 2017.

The LBWs’ personal remittances – or workers with work contracts of one year or more – increased by 2.5 percent to $12.2 billion during the period, while transfers from SBWs and LBWs with short-term contracts increased by 3.4 percent to $3.2 billion.

For the month of June only, personal remittances declined by 4.9 percent to $2.61 billion year-on-year.

Cash remittances is expected to reach $29.2 billion this year, more than 2017’s $28 billion.