MANILA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 3 billion U.S. dollars in November 2023, 2.9 percent higher than the 2.9 billion dollars recorded in November 2022, the Philippine central bank said Monday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the cumulative personal remittances grew by 2.9 percent to 33.6 billion dollars in the first 11 months of 2023 from 32.6 billion dollars recorded in the same period in 2022.
The BSP said the growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates contributed mainly to the increase in remittances from January to November 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. ■
