This was attributed to an 11.7-percent drop in cash remittances from land-based workers, which offset a 6.0-percent increase in transfers from sea-based workers. The BSP said the countries that registered the biggest declines in cash remittances in September were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Australia. For the first nine months of 2017, cash remittances recorded 3.8 percent growth from a year ago, reaching $20.78 billion. It added that cash remittances coming from the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Kuwait, Germany and Hong Kong comprised about 72 percent of total cash remittances in the first nine months of 2017. “For now, we continue to think that remittances are on track to hit $27 to $28 billion for the year,” he said.

Source: Manila Times November 15, 2017 17:26 UTC