Cash remittances below 2% for 3rd month

Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFW) grew by less than 2% for the third straight month in August.

Cash remittances sent by Filipinos through banks climbed by 1.9% to $3.035 billion in August from the $2.977 billion seen a year ago, preliminary Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed.

This matched the annual growth posted in July, and the lowest since the over four-year low of 1.7% posted in June.

In terms of the amount, August was the lowest monthly level in three months or since $2.713 billion in May.

Month on month, cash remittances declined by 6.3% from $3.24 billion.

Of the total, cash remittances from the land-based OFWs accounted for the bulk, rising by 2.2% to $2.404 billion in August from $2.351 billion in the same month a year ago.

Sea-based workers sent home $631.116 million in August, inching up by 0.8% higher from $626.118 million a year ago.

“The United States remained the top source of inflows, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia,” the central bank said in a statement on Thursday.

In the eight months to August, cash remittances rose by 2.2% to $23.424 billion from $22.909 billion in the same period last year.

Personal remittances went up by 2.3% as of August to $26.098 billion from $25.513 billion a year earlier.

“Cash and personal remittances also moderately grew in January-August 2026,” the central bank said. “These inflows continued to underpin household spending and domestic economic activity, reflecting the resilience of remittance flows as a key source of household income and external financing.”

OFWs in the United States accounted for 39.8% of total cash remittances in the eight-month period.

This was followed by OFWs in Singapore (7.1%), Saudi Arabia (6.3%), Japan (4.9%), and the United Kingdom (4.8%).

As of August, cash remittances from land-based workers reached $18.75 billion, up 2.3% from $18.32 billion in the comparable year-ago period.

On the other hand, sea-based workers sent home $4.67 billion as of August, 1.9% up from $4.59 billion a year ago.

On Thursday, the peso breached the P63 handle for the first time, closing at P63.06 against the dollar. This was 19 centavos weaker than its P62.87 finish on Wednesday and broke the previous record low of P62.90 on Oct. 8, according to Bankers Association of the Philippines data.

In its latest balance of payments forecast as of the third quarter, the BSP said inflows from OFW remittances will continue to cushion the country’s external position against ongoing global risks.