MANILA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 3.33 billion U.S. dollars in October, 3.1 percent higher than that in October 2022, the Philippine central bank said on Friday.
"This resulted in total personal remittances rising by 2.9 percent to 30.57 billion dollars in the first 10 months of 2023 from 29.72 billion dollars recorded in the comparable period in 2022," the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
The BSP said the growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia and Singapore contributed mainly to the increase in remittances from January to October 2023.
Personal remittances remain a significant source of the Southeast Asian country's foreign exchange inflows. Overseas Filipinos send an annual remittance equivalent to about 10 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product (GDP).
Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos hit an all-time high of 36.14 billion dollars in 2022, 3.6 percent higher than the 34.88 billion dollars recorded in 2021. The full-year 2022 level accounted for 8.9 percent of the GDP of the Southeast Asian country. ■
