Personal remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more grew by 5.9 percent, to compensate for the 0.6 percent decline in remittances from sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year on the same period a year ago, the central bank explained. Personal remittances are transfers in cash or in kind, as well as capital transfers between households. In April, cash remittances totaled $2.08 billion. By country source, the primary contributors to growth in cash remittances were the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United States. For the first five months of 2017, cash remittances recorded 4.5 percent growth from the level posted in the same period a year ago, reaching $11.34 billion.

Source: Manila Times July 17, 2017 18:00 UTC