Remittances to Philippines hit $2.6-B in May

Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos reached $2.6 billion in May, up 5.7 percent from the same month a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Monday.

This brought cash remittances in the first 5 months of the year to $12.3 billion, 4.5 percent higher than in the same period in 2018. 

Personal remittances also rose to $2.9 billion in May 2019, a 5.5 percent increase year-on-year. 

This brought personal remittances from January to May to $13.7 billion from last year's $13.2 billion during the same period.

The United States remained the country's biggest source of remittances, accounting for 36 percent of the total. 

Next came Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, the UK, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Qatar and Kuwait. 

The combined remittances from these countries accounted for 78 percent of total cash remittances from January to May 2019, the BSP said.