OFW remittances hit 3-month high in October

Cash remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached a three-month high in October, increasing by 2.9% to $2.747 billion.

This marks the second consecutive month of year-on-year growth in remittances, following a 9.3% increase in September.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) attributed the growth primarily to an increase in remittances from land-based workers with contracts of one year or more.

Remittances from land-based workers with longer contracts grew by 3.3% to $2.374 billion in October 2020 compared to the previous year.

Remittances from OFWs with contracts of less than a year also saw a slight increase of 1.2% to $612 million.

Analysts noted that the remittance trend has been better than anticipated, highlighting the resilience and "family first" spirit of OFWs.

Despite the recent growth, year-to-date cash remittances are still down 0.9% to $24.633 billion.