Feb remittances grow 7.1% to $1.4-B

MANILA, Philippines – Money sent home by overseas Filipinos grew 7.1% in February, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday.

Remittances for the month reached $1.4 billion, bringing the total for the first 2 months of 2010 to $2.8 billion, up 7.8% from the prior year.

Sea-based and land-based workers respectively sent 13.4% and 6.4% more money home in February.

The BSP attributed the strong inflow of remittances to the continued deployment of skilled Filipino workers and their wider access to formal money transfer channels.

“These factors support the optimistic outlook for the sustained growth in remittances throughout the year,” the central bank said.

Bulk or 82% of remittances coursed through local banks in February came from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, United Kingdom, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Italy.

The BSP expects remittances to climb 6% in 2010 after a 5.6% rise the previous year. Remittance inflows reached a record $17.3 billion in 2009.

Remittances drive consumer spending, which fuels more than two-thirds of the country’s gross domestic product. –abs-cbnNEWS.com